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solalunar-eclipse · 3 years

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Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 13

Chapter title: Finale

Word count: about 4200 words

Author’s Note: Thank you so much to everyone who’s read this fic. From the ones who were here at the beginning to the ones who joined in along the way, and even to the ones who are just reading this for the first time now: thank you! I really appreciate your support and willingness to read all about this idea of mine. I hope you enjoy the final chapter!

Warnings for nightmares and vague descriptions of violence, just in case.

First | Previous

...

In the end, another week or so was needed to finally get everything sorted out with G.U.N.- seven days which began to feel less and less stressful and more like an extended sleepover as time flew by. Eventually, though, the organization was shut down and most of their contacts closed off, leaving the country as safe as it could ever be for Teams Dark and Sonic to return.

Even as the former team began to move back into Club Rouge, setting up what little personal artifacts they had left (the suitcase they’d had was being shipped back to them from the motel in Central City where they’d left it), the club itself remained dark and empty, the three residents living above it still too wary to feel ready to reopen. Rouge, Shadow, and Omega spent about four days just living off their considerable savings and watching TV, attempting to get used to a somewhat normal life again after so long without it.

Rouge got to enjoy those late mornings she’d been hoping for, Omega was able to do his favorite activities without taking responsibility for the team anymore, and Shadow…

...there were good times and bad times, with him.

He would often find himself utterly at peace in some moments, cooking a meal after insisting that Rouge couldn’t eat takeout all the time as his two best friends shouted wildly at their newest favorite show, and he couldn’t help but smile at all the cheerfulness that surrounded him. But at the same time, he woke up screaming nearly every night, unable to stop seeing Rouge and Omega dragged off to an unknown fate by G.U.N., or worse, seeing them lifeless and sprawled on the floor, unable to do anything to save them at all….

Both his friends would always come into his room (they’d actually started sleeping in there now to help him better) and hold him until the panic dissipated, assuring him that they were alright and that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

This, however, wasn’t entirely true just yet.

One night, a would-be attacker (one of the last remnants of G.U.N.’s influence guiding them, most likely) picked the lock on the door and entered the club, sneaking across the ground floor. Rouge heard them first with her hyper-sensitive ears, whispering the situation quickly to Shadow. Suddenly, before she could stop him, he darted silently to the door, prepared to fight if necessary. The bat could defend herself just fine, of course, but he was still very much on edge.

It turned out that he didn’t need to worry, though, because as the intruder began to creep up the two flights of stairs, they glanced to their left on the darkened first floor. And spotted an absolutely terrifying pair of glowing red eyes staring at them from the darkness.

That alone would have been enough to make them scream and leave rapidly (they weren’t by any means as trained as some of G.U.N.’s other contacts) but Omega saw fit to point two charging laser cannons at them, too, and quite honestly even Sonic would’ve been surprised at the speed with which that intruder ran.

After that, Rouge decided that she’d had enough relaxing for a while and that she needed some structure in her life, so she opened up the club again and started it working (albeit on a limited basis, she wasn’t quite prepared for a full schedule yet). The well-known hotspot had been sorely missed, as evidenced by the large number of customers- and tips. The bat was delighted to see some of her favorite regulars again, and they were more than happy to accept the shortened hours just so long as it stayed open.

Eventually, though, as it became clear that the bat was fully prepared to just sweep the stress of this adventure under the rug and go back to daily life as it was before, she ended up subjected to quite a few discussions from Omega, Knuckles and even Sonic about her...habits. They were all too aware of how much strain she’d been under during their time on the run, not to mention all of the verbal attacks and physical stress she’d had to deal with beforehand. At first, she managed to brush it off, insisting that she was perfectly fine and that this sort of thing wasn’t necessary at all.

Omega had cornered her one day in her room though, with only a single sentence to say: “Think about the example you’re setting for Shadow.”

Rouge’s ears drooped slightly in guilt as she realized just how much a) Shadow based some of his behaviors off of her and b) how vehemently he had opposed the idea of therapy when it was first mentioned.

She sighed quietly. “Just one. For Shadow. And nothing’s going to come of it, you hear me?”

Two days later, she walked into the office calmly, her cool business face on and her skepticism high. The therapist she met with was young, friendly, and quite earnest and eager to help her in any way they could. As they listened to the story of her life, though, their face twisted in concern. “I understand you enjoy your job and the risks that come with it...but all those awful things people have said to you- that’s terrible!”

Rouge shrugged her shoulders. “It’s part of the job, y’know? Just have to grin and bear it.”

They looked down at their desk quietly. “How long have you been ‘grinning and bearing it’ for, exactly?”

“....a while.”

Rouge left the office after a little more talking with a distinct feeling of unease in her chest. She drove home quietly, with none of the usual music or radio that she liked on. The bat remained absolutely silent as she entered the house, too, which was the first major sign to both of her friends that something was wrong.

Shadow and Omega appeared at her side quickly, asking her what had happened and what was wrong (with quite a few threats of violence to the person who had upset her) which unfortunately had the opposite effect to what they were hoping for and instead just made her eyes start to water a little.

“Rouge, what’s going on?” Shadow asked, worried, as he pulled her over to the couch.

She managed to calm herself relatively quickly, and eventually found the words to explain how the biting words she heard every day cut deeper than she let on. How she took on mountains of emotional stress because she was the leader, and the oldest, and it was her responsibility.

The bat quickly tried to add that neither of them needed to worry about this, it was fine, that she was still the oldest and she’d accepted that responsibility and she could work out the stress on her own. As Omega began to insist on providing various objections to every last one of those arguments, Shadow vanished, only to return within a couple of minutes with a bag of mystery supplies.

“Today’s your off day, right?” he asked, with a determined look in his eyes.

“Yes, hon.” she said quietly. “I should probably go do the shopping at some point-”

“After therapy? No way.” Omega declared, putting a hand on her head and pushing her back down onto the couch after she’d started to get up.

“I’ll go shopping tomorrow.” Shadow said calmly. “I remember you haven’t been to the spa in a long time, and even if we can’t make you an appointment this late, we can still do something else.”

Omega pulled a packaged ‘hydrating and exfoliating face mask’ from the bag, holding it by the corner and looking as confused as he could possibly get. “I have no idea what this does, but if you like it then that’s fine, I suppose.” he said, handing it back to Shadow gingerly.

“Aww, guys, you don’t have to-” she insisted, disliking the idea of them having to do any work regarding her own emotional burdens.

“Yes we do.” they said in sync.

“And this needs to be at least a biweekly occurrence, too.” Omega declared.

“A Rouge day?” Shadow asked. “I agree.”

The bat protested weakly, but allowed herself to be dragged upstairs, and various soaps with relaxing scents to be placed in her hands. “And here’s a bath bomb. Or, uh, three.” The hybrid looked sheepish. “I don’t know which kind you like.”

“And do not come out until you are sufficiently relaxed.” Omega ordered her, before pushing her into the bathroom gently.

Rouge gave a quiet yet fond sigh as she looked down at the various self-care items in her hands. Those two could really be stubborn sometimes, whether about fighting or friendship.

Quickly, she swung open the door and gave them both a hug, then vanished back inside the bathroom before either could react.

The rest of the day was spent taking care of Rouge, whether it was Shadow painting her nails or Omega agreeing to watch her favorite show that night (even if he couldn’t seem to understand why people in drama shows didn’t just do what they wanted instead of agonizing about it so much). That definitely wasn’t the end of it, though.

Eventually, she managed to go back for a few more sessions just to straighten things out and figure out how to care for herself better in the long run. It didn’t hurt, either, that anytime Shadow or Omega caught someone insulting her (and her ignoring it), whether it be for her looks or her interest in a store’s jewelry, they would verbally tear into the person with such fury that Rouge was nearly embarrassed…

...but not quite. It felt good to be looked out for, she had to admit, and they were showing how much they cared about her in their own way.

It turned out that Shadow was showing it in another way, too, albeit one she didn’t notice at first. One day, as she checked through her finances, the bat realized that her bank account had begun to grow too quickly to be normal. When she checked through her balance, she discovered that someone was adding mystery payments every Friday.

Rouge found out why one afternoon when she came back from shopping early to discover Shadow standing in the living room, pulling off some sort of light green shirt and draping it over the back of a chair as he moved to the kitchen (probably for some coffee beans).

“Something you need to tell me, hon?” she asked, and was only slightly surprised when he yelled in shock, hands crackling with Chaos energy before he realized it was her.

“Ugh...Rouge, don’t scare me like that…” he sighed.

“You didn’t answer my question, Shadow.” she shot back.

He shuffled around nervously, seeming unwilling to provide her with a straight answer. Once he realized that there was no getting out of this, though, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of the hybrid gulping briefly before taking a deep breath. “I...I’ve been working part-time arranging flowers.” he said, rushing the words out as though that would keep her from understanding them.

“Honey, you know you don’t have to do that- we still have enough money to handle the club’s current hours for a while longer…” she began, worrying that he was pushing himself too hard.

Shadow folded his arms. “Keeping us afloat isn’t all up to you, remember? And I actually enjoy it- it’s kind of calming.” he said, almost defiantly.

“If you insist.” she replied. “But make sure not to mess up your schedule, you know you need to make sure you’re getting your rest after everything.”

The hybrid rolled his eyes. “I’m the Ultimate Lifeform, I don’t need-”

“Wrong answer.” Omega said from the doorway, folding his arms and glowering at Shadow. Rouge had an expression to match, seeming pretty distressed by what he’d said.

“Shadow, hon, you keep using that title as an excuse not to take care of yourself, and that’s just as unhealthy as me ignoring people who try and bother me.” she said softly. “I...think you should really consider talking to the same person I did- it’s really helped, you know that.”

The hybrid sulked in the car on the way to the office a couple days later, but didn’t actively attempt to resist, so he probably knew that Rouge was right. He told his story to them in the most calm, nonchalant manner he could pull off, though his friends did take over the story occasionally when his voice trailed off.

By the end of it, the young mouse was frowning at their desk again. “Honestly, I’m...I’m speechless. The fact that so many people were willing to treat you so badly- it’s horrible. So...I’m really glad you’re here, and I’ll do my best to help you however I can.”

Shadow was a little touched by this amount of concern from what was essentially a stranger, though he remained resistant to their suggestions at first. However, a day or two later, he had yet another nightmare- and a bad one too. Ordinarily, he’d just ignore it and lie awake for hours trying to get back to sleep, but this time, he happened to recall what the therapist had said.

“It’s okay to ask for help, Shadow. You deserve it just as much as anyone else- no matter what some people may have said.”

He tried to avoid the thought, but his mind wouldn’t rest and he couldn’t even begin to relax. (Truthfully, he was too scared to, in case the nightmares came back.) Guiltily, he got up, shuffled over to Rouge’s room, and opened the door quietly. It took him a long moment to even work up the nerve to walk over to her bedside, but eventually he did. He shook her awake gently by the shoulder, unwilling to meet her eyes.

“Oh, Shadow….” was all she said, before pulling him gently under the blankets with her and holding him tight.

The hybrid felt so pathetic and childish, yet he still buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting out a quiet sniffle. He could smell a mixture of her perfume and shampoo, and it calmed him slowly, as did the feeling of her arms around him. Eventually, he managed to fall back asleep to the sound of her breathing, and spent the rest of the night in relative peace.

When Shadow woke up early in the morning and Omega was right beside the bed, one of his hands resting comfortingly on his side, he didn’t even question it. He just placed his hand right over one of the giant metal fingers before resting a while longer, a small smile on his face.

As the days continued and the two Mobians started taking care of themselves more- with lower stress levels and many more peaceful nights as a result- Shadow finally even worked up the nerve to spend some time with Omega at the firing range.

They had made careful plans. There were noise-canceling earmuffs available for free upon entry, and Shadow wouldn’t even be in the same room as most of the weaponry. He had a katana sword and he knew where the practice dummies were, and that was enough.

They’d be able to see each other through a glass window and wave (and show off, of course). So while Shadow approached the building with a slight air of trepidation, he also felt rather excited to be able to work on his fighting skills once again, especially with his friend.

That is, until the attendant at the desk refused to give him the headset when he asked for it.

“You have to rent an item to get the free headphones,” the young woman said, looking bored and generally unsympathetic. “That’s the rule.”

“I don’t see anything saying that.” Shadow shot back, but inside he felt more nervous than anything. He couldn’t stay here if he didn’t get that equipment, but he’d really wanted to spend some time with Omega today…

The robot appeared behind him surprisingly quickly, wrenching aside the attendant’s computer to glower at her better. “I have seen others come in here and get headsets for free while bringing their own weapons, so you had better have a good explanation for why you refuse to give him one.”

“He’s got a sword,” she pointed out unhelpfully, “so he shouldn’t even need one. Headsets are only for people with projectile weapons, anyway.”

Omega’s fingers tightened on the counter until they made a noticeable scraping sound. The attendant winced and even the otherwise impassive Shadow’s ears twitched at the noise.

He lifted up his hand, revealing deep scratches in the stainless steel. “You should think about being fair and providing Shadow with a headset now. Before I become really irritated.”

“That’s- I shouldn’t have to make an exception, he isn’t going to be on the firing range!”

“He does and you should. My friend does not do well with the sound of gunfire, so he deserves to have one. Right. Now.” Omega insisted, glaring at her.

“Well, if he doesn’t like guns then he shouldn’t be here.” she said irritably. “I’m not giving him one. And that’s final.”

The robot turned away suddenly and stalked towards the door. “Then I refuse to spend one moment longer in this building. Congratulations on losing your establishment some money.”

Shadow followed his friend, feeling more than a little like he’d just experienced some sort of verbal whiplash. “Wait...what just happened?”

“I decided that this place is clearly not good enough to deserve our patronage. We can find somewhere else to spend our time.”

“But I thought this was the best place in the area- I don’t want to make you miss out…” Shadow said, feeling bad for his friend.

Omega put a heavy arm around Shadow’s shoulders. “Amenities mean nothing to me if the people there insist you suffer in the process.”

The hybrid leaned against his friend, grateful. “Thank you, Omega.”

(They did eventually find a new- if slightly less upscale- place to go, and Omega managed to hit fifteen bulls-eyes in a row before being informed that they didn’t quite have the money for prizes there. Shadow enjoyed being able to use his sword, and he got significantly more respect on the way out of the building as opposed to the general confusion and mild derision he’d received on the way in...particularly after he defeated one of the most respected patrons in five minutes flat.)

…

Nearly a month and a half after Team Dark left Angel Island, Sonic set up a little party with some friends to celebrate their general success, as well as their slow steps to getting better, day by day. The team had been pretty reclusive and slightly paranoid as of late, so this was their first proper social outing in a long while.

Once they got over to Sonic’s house, all three members of Team Dark were immediately greeted with a shriek of “GUYS!”, followed by the sudden appearance of one cheerful pink hedgehog. “Rouge, Omega, Shadow, hi! How are you guys? Do you need anything?” Amy Rose asked, managing to simultaneously be cheerful, sympathetic, and doting in a way only she ever could.

“We’re doing better all the time, hon. Thank you.” Rouge answered kindly, while Omega waved at her and Shadow offered up a quiet nod.

Amy wasn’t deterred by the latter’s behavior- she’d spent enough time with him to know that they were pretty good friends and that he was probably just a little overwhelmed, so she gave him his space. Blaze greeted them all politely as they entered the living room as well from her seat on the couch, but was quickly overshadowed by the other spacetime traveler present for the party.

Silver dashed over to the group, looking them all up and down worriedly. Upon seeing that they were mostly unharmed, albeit tired, he focused his attention on his personal hero and occasional mentor on Chaos techniques (Shadow).

“Are- are you going to be okay?” he asked worriedly, hovering (both literally and figuratively) around the other hedgehog. “Silly question, sorry, I just, if you’re not okay then I’m here if you need-”

“Silver.” Shadow cut the psychic off, but in a gentle manner. “I think I’ll be alright. If I’m ever not, though, I’ll keep your offer in mind. Thank you.”

“Okay.” He sighed, his nervous energy dissipating. It was replaced by a smile almost instantly, though, as he added, “Okay! I’m just so glad you guys managed to stop G.U.N. and everything. And that you’re alright now!”

Shadow offered him a small smile. “So am I.”

Soon after, Omega hurried down to Tails’s workshop with a shout of “What have you been working on? I need to see everything right now” and Rouge busied herself with scaring the living daylights out of Knuckles by sneaking up on him from behind. Meanwhile, Sonic stepped into Silver and Shadow’s conversation, at ease with both of them and enjoying the party. “You got some food yet?” he asked the hybrid, smiling warmly at him.

“No…?” Shadow said cautiously.

“Oh, man! There’s so much, you’ve gotta try everything!” Sonic exclaimed, dragging Shadow into the kitchen with one hand while Silver did the same with the other.

Moments later, he found himself with a plate filled with every kind of food available in the kitchen, from french fries to mini-sandwiches to cupcakes. Shadow startled slightly upon realizing that everybody else seemed to have brought several nice foods, and all his team had thought to bring was a bottle or two of soda. “I apologize for our lack of food-” he began, feeling somehow as though he should have done better, but Sonic silenced him quickly.

“Dude, no way! We’re having this party for you guys anyway because of all the stressful work you went through!”

Silver chimed in quickly. “We didn’t ask you guys to bring food because we didn’t want you to worry- you’ve done more than enough work for a long time.”

Shadow, in response, quickly shoved a mini-sandwich into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything too emotional.

Later, as they all settled down to watch the pilot episode of an old but well-known TV show, the hybrid found himself squeezed in between Rouge on one side, still flirting with Knuckles (punctuated by the occasional check-in on Shadow) and Sonic on the other side, in a surprisingly intense argument with Blaze about whether or not this show, Nebula Expedition: The Following Age, was better than the original.

Omega, meanwhile, was trying his best not to utterly crush the beanbag chair on the floor he’d been given after the couch had nearly tipped over the moment he sat down. Tails was leaned against him, while Amy, Blaze and Silver shared the other sofa.

Suddenly, Sonic turned to him, his expression intense and serious. “Shadow. This is the most important question you’re gonna answer all week. Which show is better: The Following Age or the original?”

The hybrid shook his head, a smile appearing on his face despite his best attempts to ignore it. It was crazy to think that he’d gone from the most important question of the week being “Am I going to be captured by G.U.N. and imprisoned?” to “Which show is better?”, and he couldn’t help but allow a laugh to escape him. It was just a quick little snicker, but it was enough for Sonic’s eyes to widen and for him to grin.

“What’s that all about?” he asked, half joking and half serious, leaning his shoulder on Shadow’s. “You think this question’s a joke? Your answer’s really important here, y’know!”

“Well, for your information…” the hybrid began.

Sonic leaned in a little closer. “Yeah?”

“I like Asteroid Battle the best. Only the originals, though.”

The hero gave a cry of dismay and flopped back against the couch, throwing his hands up in the air. “Asteroid Battle? Asteroid Battle?? That wasn’t even an option!” he cried. “It’s not even in the same franchise, for Chaos’ sake!”

“Too bad.” Shadow replied smugly, folding his arms and still smiling. “Because that’s the one I like best.”

Sonic smacked him on the arm and heaved a dramatic sigh. “Well, too bad to both you and Blaze, because it’s my TV and I get to pick the show.”

Shadow wasn’t the least bit bothered about that as he settled in to watch, surrounded by his friends and safe as he could be. This atmosphere- of cheer and kindness and laughter- this was what he’d wanted to be able to enjoy all along.

He wasn’t entirely there yet- and maybe he would never be able to know the freedom that came when people didn’t carry the memories he did. But in the end, he couldn’t say that he regretted that burden too greatly. Even through all the bad, he had enough good in this world that it was all worth the struggle in the end, if he got to be here, now, in this place with the people he cared for most.

Shadow met Rouge’s eyes briefly, and then Omega’s, hoping that the words he couldn’t say right now would be understood.

Thank you both so much. For being there for me, through the good times and the bad. For being happy with me and sad with me. For standing by me when I decided to take on the largest military organization in the world, and afterwards as well. Just...thank you.

For everything.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark #sonic the hedgehog #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #(don't think i can tag all of them)#sycs #scars you can't see #sol's fanfiction #thank you all so much for reading!! i really really appreciate it #also as always please let me know if i've misrepresented anything (especially the mental health parts)#while i didn't get to explore shadow's flower shop job as much as i would've liked he certainly likes it more than working for gun #if you can guess what the tv shows/movies are that they're talking about at the end then good on you!#also for the last comment:#i was working on characterizing silver and figured i should probably check out the wiki #five minutes later i found myself rewatching shadow and silver pose during the mario & sonic olympic games for the third time #it counts as research right?#right???

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bimboamyrose · 4 years

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On the Scarlett Sea Part 2 / 2

A ~Pirate~ Metamy Fanfic - [Link to Part 1 & Synopsis] - [AO3 Link]

In collaboration with @mmm-asbestos & their pirate Metamy AU Happy 2021 everyone ❤ ❤ ❤

Part 2

There was no natural light to be found in Amy’s room even in the morning. The ship was incredibly quiet as it sailed on calm waters with its skeleton crew. This combined with the lack of any sort of alarm made it very easy to sleep- maybe too easy. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! Amy had no idea what time it was and felt disoriented and started when she awoke in the dark, unfamiliar room. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! The metallic pounding on the door would have sufficed to wake a village.

“Alright, I’m awake… Hang on…” Amy turned on a small desk lamp and stumbled through the dimly lit room to its door. Little more light entered the room. “Where…” she nearly missed the small robot that had awoken her until he tapped her leg. “Oh… which one are you?” she squinted.

“That would be H1.” Metal Sonic stood just down the hall with arms folded neatly behind him.

Amy turned her attention to him groggily. “Why did you wake me…”

“You’ve been in there for 16 hours. I thought you might be dead.”

She blinked at him incredulously. “What time is it?”

“About noon, local. Would you join us on the main deck?”

“Why?”

He stood stoically, looking apathetic. “Aren’t you bored?”

“Are you?”

There was no response from Metal except a mechanical scoff, as if letting out steam. He turned back upstairs without another word. Amy grumbled something under her breath and took her time getting ready with whatever she could find in the room. When she emerged, H1 was still standing guard in front of her door, staring up at her blankly. She stepped around him awkwardly, his gaze following her as she went. Okay, less cute...

The midday sun left Amy squinting on the upper deck. She found Metal Sonic standing nobly right at the bow, watching the seas ahead. Might as well…

Amy came up next to him, mimicking his stately pose. “I had to sleep in this dumb outfit, you know.”

“You really must stop being so irritating when I cannot properly roll my eyes at you.”

“Pft-” Amy tried to hide a snicker. This amused Metal. “So… No clue how far this treasure is, huh? I wonder how long it’ll take.”

“I estimate no more than 12 days; That is how long it takes to navigate to the border of this sea at our velocity.” He glanced down to find a grouchy look on her face. “But… may be quicker.” Unless it’s in a different sea entirely , he kept to himself.

“Great,” she sighed. “So, what do you plan to do for up to 12 days?”

“Hm…” Metal brought his thumb and forefinger to his chin. “... we could spar.”

She whipped her head around to face him. “Again with the swords? What’s with you?”

He shrugged “I learned about the art while researching pirates. I believe I’ve mastered it but I would like to try with a worthy opponent.”

Now it was flattery. He really was impossible to understand. “Well thanks, but I don’t know the first thing about sword fighting- and it sounds like you don’t, either.”

“I assure you, I know plenty ,” he challenged, looking directly at her.

“You can’t learn how to fight by reading about it,” she scoffed.

“Well, perhaps you can’t…”

She raised a brow. “You know, you’re really gonna have to get used to ‘organic’ limitations soon. Unless that’s not really what you want…”

Metal could see that the girl was still doubtful about his intentions. She was unexpectedly clever- he supposed exploiting her kindness would only go so far. Perhaps he should try to limit himself for the time being. “You misunderstand. I am capable of mimicking movements as part of my programming. I don’t usually use weapons and simply wanted the ability to defend myself once I gave up this body.”

“Right…” If it was a lie, it wasn’t a bad one. Maybe he really was bored. “So is there a way you could teach me without all the sharp bits? Something tells me only one of us would get injured, and I’m no mechanic.” A sly smile found its way onto her face.

Now that was an amusing reaction, he thought, if only because she was so quick on her feet. A low snicker radiated from Metal as he beckoned her away. “We shall use the prop swords… for now.”

The pair soon took to the main deck with its wide-open space. Amy did what she could to tie the ridiculous skirt up at her waist and out of the way. Then, Metal Sonic tossed her a cutlass which held a surprising amount of weight when caught. It looked just like a real sword.

“Uh, are you sure these are props?”

“They are real antique swords, but they have been dulled. I assure you they won’t break your skin… Unless I want them to.”

It was hard to tell if he was joking. Ignoring it, Amy jumped out, holding the sword ahead of her with her feet spread. “Well, this doesn’t seem so hard.”

“That is because your stance is appalling.” Metal came up next to her, demonstrating the “proper” way, his pose looking much the same as hers. Her confusion was evident as he described the stance. “Keep your back foot out at a 90-degree angle… sword arm bent at 45 degrees… your feet really should be 91 centimeters apart-”

“Okay, you need to stop throwing random numbers at me,” she pouted.

“Alright…” Metal dropped his sword. With his hands at his hips, he took another look at how she posed. Then he kicked her back foot into the right position.

“Hey! You could be a little more gentle, you know.”

“Very well,” Metal made an exasperated motion as he moved behind her. Amy tried to follow him with her eyes but he grabbed the top of her head and turned it away. “Look forward. Now…” He extended his reach around her, using his hand to lift her elbow slightly. She shuttered a bit at the cold touch. “Does it feel a bit heavier now?”

Amy cleared her throat. “Ah… Yeah, a little.”

“One more thing,” he grabbed her other arm by the bicep, pulling it back toward him forcefully. “Keep this behind you, unless you’d like to lose it.”

A slight gasp escaped her lips at the abrupt movement. She tried to remain unphased. “Okay… Now what?”

He pulled away and stepped to her side. “Try a lunge. Extend your sword.” Amy lifted her elbow, fully extending her sword arm forward. “Good. Now, push off with your back foot to lunge forward.” She did as instructed, jumping forward slightly. “Again- Keep your back foot at the correct angle this time.” Amy’s eyes rolled in her head as she tried the motion again, focusing on keeping her body aligned. “Better… Try it as one swift motion.”

Awkwardly, Amy pushed her sword hand ahead and propelled herself forward all at once, losing her footing slightly. “Ugh! Wait-” Taking a deep breath, she tried the move again. And again. And again. Metal patiently watched her determination as she became slightly better with each thrust. It was so amusing to see the sheer effort it took her. The 16th time was the charm, as she was able to lunge swiftly without losing her footing. “Ha! How was that?”

“... It was fine. Anyone can do it once, though,” he derided.

“Hmph. Let’s see how many more I can do, then.”

To his surprise, Metal didn’t seem to get bored with such basic practice. Her tenacity was enjoyable to experience and she took instruction well, even if she stumbled. Metal moved on to demonstrating how to parry and eventually had her practice the motions together. Around two hours into practice, he came up in front of her, pointing his sword. “Not bad. Why don’t you try to parry an actual lunge?”

“Actually, can we stop for now? I kinda haven’t eaten anything all day.” Amy stood naturally, holding the sword down in front of her with both hands. She went from threatening to sweet in a second.

“Oh- Yes,” he brought his sword down to his side. “Of course. And I should check that we are still on course.” She handed him her cutlass hilt-first but he refused it. “Try carrying it on you. I’m concerned you may forget it’s not as easy to summon as your usual weapon.”

“Pft- You’re concerned about me? That’s new,” she smirked.

“Do not confuse it with amity,” he said flippantly, walking off toward the helm. “You know where the galley is.”

“Whatever, weirdo…” Amy affixed the dulled sword to her waist by the side, undoing the ties that kept her skirt girded around her hips. How anyone got things done with such a cumbersome garment, Amy did not know. The choice of theme still didn’t make much sense to her.

-----

“That should do it,” Tails closed up a hatch on the ship’s engine. He gave the operator a thumbs-up and before anyone knew it, the loud humming and rattling indicated that it was once again fully operational. Some of the crew hung around, cheering, as one of the cameramen leaned in close to the boy.

“Color me impressed.” Rouge sat atop a stack of crates watching the operation. She now wore a much more official-looking fitted navy pantsuit and captain’s hat. “All fixed in under 24 hours! Any chance you’d like to become a permanent member of the crew?”

“Thanks, but I have my own crew,” Tails laughed.

She pouted with a slight sigh. “Suit yourself…” She hopped down from the stack of crates, floating her way up toward the stairs. “I’ll let the crew know we’ll be moving soon. Everyone here, back to your posts.” The cameraman scrambled to shift his focus and follow her up.

A few of the crewmates patted Tails on the back and congratulated him as they got ready to return to their posts. Tails made some small talk until they’d all filed out a few minutes later.

Knuckles stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders. “Finally, we can get a move on. Do you think we’ll catch up to Amy and Metal?”

Tails nodded. “It’ll take a couple of days, but yeah- this ship’s faster.”

“Amy’ll have to hang on ‘til then…” Knuckles held up the compass that Rouge had recovered- it was identical in size and shape to his except that it was gold rather than brass. The arrow pointed in the same direction, though the inscription on the back was different. “ The time has come to find me- it is my turn to bleed. -Scarlett .” The boys found it kind of creepy, but it seemed to serve the same function so it was good enough.

“ Attention all crew: the ship is now fully operational. We will be setting sail in 30 minutes. ” Rouge’s voice was heard over the intercom.

“That’s our cue- come on.”

-----

Back on Metal’s ship, Amy sat on the edge of her seat. She’d brought her lunch back up to the deck and got comfortable under the roof of the helm watching H3 and H4 work. The two little robots ran from task to task, tying various knots and doing whatever one does on an antique pirate ship, sometimes stacked on top of one another for height. Amy clapped in amusement any time they finished something, much to Metal Sonic’s annoyance.

Once they were done, the pair scrambled up the stairs to the helm and gave their master their signature salute. “Very good. That is all for now,” he told them. Rather than scurry off, H4 threw his arms in up, catching H3, who balanced on his brother’s hands with his own.

“Oooh!” Amy clapped and giggled at the silly display while Metal groaned. H4 tossed the other in the air and switched to a handstand himself as H3 landed, their soles connecting. Then H3 rolled into a ball and his brother spun him on the soles of his feet. Amy had burst into full-blown laughter. “Wow, you guys are talented!”

“That’s enough,” Metal interjected. He was authoritative but not harsh in his tone. His henchmen complied, both standing back up on their feet. They waved to Amy as they scuttled off to the lower decks.

“Those guys are fun- did you teach them that?” Amy wiped a tear from her eye as the laughter subsided.

“ No. They were programmed to entertain for some reason. It was not my doing.”

“Well, they’re pretty good at it.” Amy leaned back in her chair, taking a sip of iced tea she’d made to go with her meal. She fanned herself in the heat. “Hey, are they gonna do the same?”

Metal was examining his sharp fingers, having found a scratch in the chrome paint job. “The same what?”

“You know, the same wish. To be organic.”

“What- oh, no,” he shook his head. “They are not the same as me. Or should I say, I am not the same as them…”

“How so?”

Metal had to be careful with his words. “Well… their AI is very simple. They are trained in certain tasks and to look for the right reactions in others as they do so. They’re quite simple- no real ‘emotions’ to speak of.”

Amy placed down her glass. “But you have feelings?”

“They are… simulated. But yes, I suppose you could call them that.”

“Huh. And I thought you operated on blind rage alone,” she chuckled.

Turning to her, Metal leaned an elbow on the railing to his side. “More like… spite.”

“Ha- is that what you feel for Sonic?”

“You could say that.”

The surroundings grew quiet in the absence of Metal’s minions. There was little noise but the gentle swaying of the sea and perpetual whirring from his turbine. Amy closed her eyes and listened as the sails waved in the wind, leaning back so the breeze sailed through her hair to cool her down. The air moved across the soft locks that flowed from her quills. She gently swiped them away when they blew over her face, her sleeves billowing lightly. When her eyes opened, she found Metal staring at her rather intently.

He turned his head away, looking back toward the wide-open deck. “Shall we continue our lesson?”

It was strange, the way he looked at her. She could almost swear there was a yearning in his gaze. She began to seriously consider that he could be telling the truth about his intentions. “Sure, just give me a few.”

Amy hardly noticed how much time had passed during the impromptu “training.” She found that it was much more enjoyable than she anticipated; learning a new skill was fun and Metal Sonic was a surprisingly effective teacher. There probably wouldn’t be time to become proficient at it, but learning to wield a sword was probably at least more entertaining than lounging around the ship most of the day. Still, as daylight dwindled, she was exhausted from the constant exercise and was ready to break for the day. Metal Sonic, for his part, didn’t ever seem to slow down, and was now demonstrating how to perform some combos.All part of being a machine , she supposed.

“Hey, it’s fun watching you and all, but I’m really tired.” She stretched her arms up warily. “Can we stop?”

Metal stopped his demonstration and stood upright. “Hm- Yes, it has gotten late. Will you continue tomorrow?”

Why did he look so excited about teaching her the ropes? Amy wondered how he normally spent his time if he found this to be so entertaining. What else was she going to do out at sea? “... Yeah, sure. It’s fun.” Her smile was sincere this time.

“... Indeed. You don’t learn as slowly as I thought you would.”

“Gee, thanks,” she chortled. “I’m gonna freshen up.” Amy tied the practice sword around her waist and mocked a salute at Metal. She saw his shoulders rise momentarily as if to give her a single laugh. The scenario still felt strange, but Amy was remarkably calm- relaxed, even- as she returned to her temporary accommodation. It was dark by the time she felt ready to leave her room again. It was too early for bed and there was nothing to do, so she returned to the main deck with her lantern in hand.

It was empty. No henchmen, no Metal Sonic- just the swaying ocean and sound of her heeled boots against a hardwood deck. She wondered if she’d have experienced such tranquility while traveling with her friends. Tails’ boat was so much smaller and the three of them already felt like they crowded the space. She missed them. They must be so worried…

Unsure of what else to do, Amy laid down on the bare deck to stare into the dotted sky. It was cold and hard and a bit damp, but the stars overhead were so vibrant she swore she could almost reach out and touch them. She passed some time finding any constellations she could identify in the summer sky.

At the sound of a door creaking open, Amy turned her head toward the captain’s quarters. Metal Sonic stood in the doorway, catching her in his gaze. Only yesterday the sight would ignite Amy’s battle instincts; now she just remained still and silent. There was no reason to fight. It was odd.

Metal looked into her eyes for a minute until she turned her face back to stargazing. His heavy, metallic steps echoed across the empty deck as he approached her. He was otherwise quiet. Metal loomed over her for a moment before joining her, laying next to Amy on the wooden floor and wondering what was so fascinating about the night sky. The way it illuminated out at sea, far from the light pollution of Eggman’s airship and other hiding places, was unlike anything he had seen. He could see why she was so interested.

Amy started giggling after a minute. It was so absurd! They’d normally be trying to rip each other to pieces, but here they were stargazing together.

Metal turned to face her. “What is so amusing?”

“Nothing… Just that, this reminds me of before. Back when you couldn’t talk and I couldn’t fight- you’d kidnap me and we’d just sit there without a word.” The memories weren’t the most positive, but the idea was laughable now. She smiled.

“Ah- yes. Well, I can talk and you can certainly put up a fight now.”

“Yeah,” she giggled. “I had to become strong ‘cause… Well, I was looking for my own freedom, I guess. Like you.”

So she was really beginning to believe him after all. Metal thought that should have been an accomplishment, but his body failed to produce a positive response in his program. What should have translated into pride instead felt like... guilt? That was new. “Did it pay off?” he asked after some silence.

“Well, I got kidnapped again but other than that,” she shrugged playfully.

“Yes, that was… unideal.”

“I get it,” she sighed. “I probably wouldn’t have helped you otherwise. No offense.”

“That is understandable.” Metal turned his attention to the glittery sky, mapping the stars. He was never very interested in it, but he recognized all the common constellations- although they didn’t make sense to him. “Tell me, can you identify constellations?”

“Yeah, I know a few.” She pointed up toward a cluster of stars. “Like… Hercules. It’s pretty prominent this time of year, and it’s easy to recognize.”

“I am familiar with the legend, but this set of stars does not resemble a man…”

“Oh! You gotta, you know, connect the dots.”

His optics allowed him to do that automatically, placing lines between each of the stars in the correct order. The constellation resembled a square with a line coming from each corner, but not a mythical hero. “They are… just lines.”

“Hm… I guess that one’s pretty abstract. How about…” she moved her pointer finger across her vision. “Cygnus. It’s a swan.”

“I have seen swans. This does not look like one.”

“You gotta use your imagination a little!” She scooted closer to him, holding out both hands in front of his face. “See how it kinda looks like a cross when you connect the dots?”

“Yes...”

“Okay. So, the shortest side of the cross is the tail, and the opposite part is like a long neck.” Amy traced each of the stars as she addressed them. “So then, where they cross…”

“Hm… Wings?”

“Yeah!” She giggled. “See? Not so hard.”

It was not how Metal would have chosen to depict a swan. The dots and lines that made up Cygnus were only conceptual, after all. “Perhaps I’ll understand better once I accomplish my goal…”

“Maybe,” she sat up. “Don’t worry if you don’t, though- most of them are nonsense; It’s just for fun!”

That seemed even more pointless. He sat up as well. “I do not comprehend it.”

“You will,” Amy assured. “Things don’t always have to make sense, you know?”

He found some understanding in her words, although “sense” it did not necessarily make. It was amusing, though, he admitted to himself. “I suppose I will.”

They sat chatting a while, Amy trying to explain the meaning of various constellations, Metal doing his best to imagine the abstract figures she described. As clouds moved in and the sky became less visible, the topic moved on to Metal’s interest in pirates. He spoke at length about the life and history of Captain Scarlett and her elusive treasure.

“According to accounts, she used the mirror to become the ‘greatest pirate alive’ and gathered most of her riches during this time. Soon after, her wife, Beryl, became ill and was unable to travel- that is why there are so many letters between them. After Beryl’s death, Scarlett disappeared. It is not known what happened to her or her ship- she likely became shipwrecked and drowned.”

“That’s so sad,” Amy commented. Her eyes were slightly misty.

“Well, piracy had its hazards. Still does. I have a book-” Metal turned his head away, looking intent.

Amy tried to see what he was looking at. “What is it?”

“I hear thunder…” A few seconds later, Amy heard it, too, as a light drizzle began to fall upon the deck.

“Oh, I don’t want to get wet again-” she sprang up.

“To my quarters, then.” Amy sprinted to the safety of the double-doors while Metal followed behind slowly. He was listening for further thunder and determining wind speed. Going in after her, he called to his henchmen, who were sitting at his table playing cards. “H3, H4- Lower the sails. I need to steer.” They both clinked their claws against their heads and jumped past him to start the task.

“Is everything okay?” Amy shook a bit of rain from her hair.

“A minor storm. Stay here.”

Although she had seen many badniks in and around water, Amy worried the rain could affect him. “Will you be alright?” They were both a bit surprised at her question. There was an unexpected tenderness in her concern.

“Yes,” he responded softly. “I am built to withstand worse.”

Amy nodded and he closed the door behind him. It was just her and H1 in the room now. He sat at the table still, cards in hand, and turned up to look at her. She smiled awkwardly, remembering this was the one who was hanging around in front of her room all morning. He patted the chair next to him, inviting her to join.

“So… What are we playing?” He stared at her silently. “Oh, right- you don’t talk. Uh… Go Fish?” H1 gave her a quick, violent nod that made his joints squeak obnoxiously. “Okay, okay! I’ll set up.”

They got two rounds in, H1 pointing at the deck whenever Amy needed to “go fish.” He won the first set but she bested him in the second, and they were now playing to break the tie. The storm outside was intensifying, heavy rain pounding on wood and thunder growing louder.

Amy was studying her cards closely, trying to decide which pair to go for next, when H1 sprang up, making a bee-line for the double-doors and running out into the open deck. “Why did he-” She gasped as her chair slid back and several pieces of furniture were pushed to one side. It didn’t last long as the ship rolled the other way, causing her to crash back into the table with an “oof!” That was more than a bit worrisome. She listened as the thunder and rain grew louder, the ship continuing to sway. Then, a huge crack of thunder boomed in her ears, followed by the sound of splitting wood. Amy quickly made her way to the main deck to see what was happening, immediately being pelted by rain and seawater.

The lower yard perpendicular to the foremast was cracked and practically broken in half, being held together only by H4’s coiling grip. She saw H3 pulling ropes, weighing down that side of the lower foresail to reduce stress on the beam. Metal Sonic was barking orders from the quarter deck above. Amy ran up to the helm just as H1 propelled himself in the opposite direction, toward the bow. His one glowing eye blazed when he spotted her.

“What are you doing? I told you to stay inside!”

“Don’t you guys need help?” Amy held onto the railing as the motion caused her to slip and slide on the wet floor.

“H1 is hoisting the jib, there’s nothing more to do but steer. Get inside, now!” Just then a towering wave came up to their port side. He was sure Amy’s featherweight would be blown off-board if she left the helm now. “Argh! Come here-” Metal steered in the opposite direction, trying to ride it out without capsizing. As the boat rolled, Amy stumbled to his left side and he pulled her in, putting her between himself and the wheel. He held her by the waist with one arm while the other remained affixed to the steering device. “Don’t drown!” he barked.

“What-”

The wave swallowed the elevated deck, leaving Amy and Metal completely underwater momentarily. Metal’s heavy body remained unmoved while her feet were swept off. She’d have been washed away- or at least violently slammed into the railings and water-logged- if he hadn’t affixed his iron grip around her. As the water passed over, Amy sputtered, having swallowed a huge gulp. A whining set of beeps came from ahead of them.

H3 was pointing up frantically, indicating that the top corner of the sail had torn off the yard by the rope. The sail flailed wildly around him until he took hold with both hands again, stabilizing the bottom once again. If the sail ripped any further off the mast it would fold over and become worse than useless, sending the ship to one side with its imbalance. He would send one of his henchmen up if they weren’t already securing half the mast.

“Damn that torn sail,” Metal cursed under his breath.

Amy coughed into his chest in front of him. “Tell me how I can” cough “help!”

He took to his mind frantically, calculating out all the different scenarios in which they would survive if the vessel capsized. He wasn’t too worried about his crew; they could take a beating and were waterproof. But the girl… Whether he kept her by him or sent her away, she had little hope of survival if the ship went down. Their only hope was to hold on and reaffix the sail.

Reluctantly, he made the decision. “The sail needs to be mended. Steer.”

“No!” cough “I can fix it-”

Another wave was about to wash over them. “Shut up and take a breath this time!”

Amy was just able to take in some air before they were engulfed by saltwater for a second time. As it cleared, Metal glanced back at the torn sail. He could fly up and do what he could to reaffix it, but steering the ship and knowing when and where to turn was a lot harder than it looked. He was able to calculate the safest angle with which to navigate into the waves and keep the vessel balanced. Someone without any knowledge on the subject, however...

If she could get high enough, Amy wouldn’t have to worry about being washed off the vessel so long as he kept them upright. “Can you climb?” he asked her.

Pushing her wet hair out of her face, Amy answered. “Yeah!”

“Take that rope and climb up the mast- reaffix the sail by the eye. Here, use my sword to cut the rope. Do you understand?”

Amy nodded. There was determination in her eyes as she took his sword and booked it to the ratline.

“Hurry- Before another wave hits.”

She climbed, struggling against the wind as it vibrated the taut ladder. Water weighed down her long skirt as she went. Once at the top, another wave washed over the main deck, causing the vessel to roll once more. She held onto the ropes for dear life, unsure of how to get to the end of the adjoining yard. Amy turned her gaze in every direction frantically- how do people usually get up there? I could shimmy , the thought, but what do I hold onto?

Despite Metal’s ability, the ship was difficult to control without the proper sails. He felt uncharacteristically apprehensive watching Amy climb as he steered between waves, as if ready to lunge for her if she were to fall. Another wave was now threatening to roll the vessel from the starboard side, so he did his best to focus on steering.

Glancing down, Amy got an idea. She wrapped an arm through the tightly woven ropes and used her free hand to pull out the sword, then promptly sliced through the top of her skirt, revealing the black half-slip beneath it. It was easy to tear off from there and use as an impromptu support system. Amy tied the length of maroon fabric to the yard above her, leaving some room between it and the knot. She hoisted herself up and carefully made her way across the beam on her belly, twisting and dragging the fabric with her. Once she reached the tear, she said a prayer and dropped her body down onto the circle of hanging fabric, hoping it would act as a hammock to support her while she worked.

It wasn’t perfect, but it held. Amy couldn’t believe how high she was, supporting herself with only a bit of fabric on some creaky wood. She was able to do as Metal Sonic had instructed, hanging precariously from the beam and taking hold of it when she felt too much turbulence. Once she’d replaced the rope through the eye of the sail, it was just a matter of getting back down.

A melodic set of rings and tones came from below her. Amy smiled when she spotted H1 on the crow’s nest some feet down. He reached up, uncoiling his extendable arms to pick Amy up and lower her to him safely. “Oh thank goodness,” she threw her arms around the little robot and hugged him close. “I thought I was gonna die up there!”

The vessel was noticeably more stable now that the jib was functioning and the mainsail was secured. Amy heard a whistle and noticed Metal Sonic signaling for them to descend. Climbing down the ratline proved much faster for Amy without the deadweight around her waist, and she rushed back to the helm to see what else needed doing. H1 was already working to tie up the broken beam.

“How are we doing?” Adrenaline rushed through her as she asked.

Metal was taken aback by her excitement; She really seemed to have a knack for putting herself in danger. “Better…. Good work.” He noticed the change in her wardrobe then, but said nothing.

“Oh, it was easy,” she lied. “What else do we need?” They rolled again, listing starboard, and she grabbed onto his arm for balance.

He acted quickly in bringing her between him and the wheel again. “Nothing. We- I need to steer us around the storm.”

The proximity was slightly discomforting now. Amy flushed as she turned away from him to look toward the bow. But the constant motion didn’t allow her to leave his side just yet; They swayed backward while climbing another wave then leaned forward as the vessel crashed down over it. Amy couldn’t stifle a yell when the ship descended, Metal pulling her closer to him still. He wouldn’t admit how much alarm his body was producing as he saw the high chance of tipping forward. The ship’s boom was dunked under the waves momentarily until the entire vessel tipped back, balancing itself like a buoy.

Amy was shaking. Her heart was ready to leap out of her chest, sure she’d be unable to maintain her balance had it not been for Metal’s support. Any rosiness in her cheeks quickly vanished to stark white and she remained speechless in her panic. Metal looked down at her in front of him. He realized he was still clutching her to him, but didn’t ease his grip. He told himself it was in case another wave hit.

They continued to sail over the stormy waters, but it appeared after a few minutes that the worst was behind them. Metal loosened his hold around Amy as her heart rate leveled and her breathing went back to normal. The rain began lightening up, no longer showering the deck. It was a light drizzle by the time either of them found anything to say.

Amy inhaled. “That was… A lot.”

“Yes…” he turned his attention to his minions, who were securing the sail back to the mast. It had been repaired to the best of their abilities with as much rope as they could tie around it.

“So… This ship. It’s kinda falling apart.”

“That appears to be the case.”

There was an awkward silence between them. Amy was still sandwiched between Metal Sonic and the ship’s helm. Now that the shock had faded it was uncomfortable again. “I’m gonna… Step aside…”

“Of course-” Metal removed himself from behind her, taking some steps away to free her. “I did not expect you to do so well.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Amy rung out her locks. They were both soaked, but her clothes were heavy with all the water.

“You may change in my quarters- if you need to.”

“Got another fun outfit planned for me?” she mocked.

“Yes. Come,” he stepped down from the quarter deck toward the captain’s quarters.

Amy scoffed. “I was not being serious.”

Metal addressed the henchmen as he passed. “H1, H3, H4- you did well. We will complete repairs tomorrow.” They all saluted him, and as soon as he turned away, moved on to high-fiving each other noisily. The doors were held open to his room and Amy passed through.

Much of the space was in disarray. The chairs were in different corners of the room, half of them toppled over. The screen had collapsed and any books that lined the shelves had flown off and lay open or bent on the floor. Amy was worried what state her room could be in…

“Well, this is…”

“A mess,” Amy interrupted.

“That is a fair assessment.” Metal made his way to the far corner of the room, bringing the screen upright. “At least this is functional…” He pointed a hand to it, inviting Amy to use it.

Amy was weirded out again by his interest in her attire but was even more uncomfortable in the drenched outfit she had on. She made her way to change while Metal Sonic hung around the room, picking books up from the ground. He’d left her another period-accurate garment to dress up in. The sight of the long-sleeved white nightgown annoyed her at first, but she was glad she at least had something comfortable to sleep in.

When she stepped out from behind the screen, Amy made her way to pick up the floor mirror. It was cracked at the top from having toppled forward but was otherwise functional. She looked ethereal in the white gown, even if it was a little costumey.

“I hope it is to your liking,” Metal said as he approached her. “I understand you were uncomfortable resting in the other clothes.”

Amy had forgotten that the first thing she’d done that morning was to complain about the outfit to him. “I’m surprised you cared to remember.”

“I have ample memory storage; I do not forget.”

“But you still cared.” She smiled up at him.

“... I didn’t want to hear your whining.” Metal stepped away, continuing to tidy up his quarters from the whirlwind.

“Sure.” Amy pretended to study the dress in the mirror, actually watching Metal in its reflection. It was all so elaborate- the ship, the costumes, the sword fighting. What was the point of it all? “Hey, Metal… How come you’re so invested in this pirate act? It seems kinda…”

“Illogical?” He did not turn to look at her.

“I was gonna say inconvenient, but…”

“Hm.” He straightened up the last chair. “I suppose I just wanted something to control,” he shrugged. “It seemed on-theme.” It wasn’t a lie.

Amy had no idea what to expect but the answer still shocked her. It was becoming difficult to doubt him when she realized that she could relate. He really did have nothing to gain but his autonomy. “I understand,” she said simply.

Metal made to return to the deck, holding a door ajar. “Perhaps it will pay off for me, as well.”

“Yeah,” she smiled.

Amy gathered up her wet clothes to dry in her room. It was hard to tell how long she’d spent on deck chatting and then weathering the storm, but she was exhausted- and hungry. She was lucky everything in the kitchen was bolted down but felt less so when her suite was in complete disorder. For once, she didn’t care- simply plopping herself on the mess of sheets and pillows that she could gather atop the plush mattress.

-----

“I am… so sore.” Amy lay on her back directly on the cool wood of the quarter-deck, groaning. “Everything hurts. And it’s sooo hot...”

The ship swayed slightly on the calm water, as Metal turned the helm sharply. “I suppose that means you are too weak to train, then.” He watched the compass eagerly. They had been blown off course by the storm the night before and the arrow was constantly changing direction now.

Ignoring his little insult, Amy darted her eyes up at him. “Is that all you think about?”

“What else are we to do?” He made a frustrated, metallic ring as he turned the ship in the other direction. “How does this ridiculous thing work?”

“How should I know…” Amy yawned. “You seem too busy steering to train me, anyway.”

“H1 can take over once he’s finished with the sails. I suggest you get ready.”

Amy clicked her tongue at him, crossing her arms over her torso. She rolled her head to the side, watching the horizon pass them by. “When you have muscles, you’ll see…” But he was right, there was nothing better to do. It made her think about what her friends might be doing then. Would they catch up to Metal’s ship? She dreaded confronting them at sea, having to convince them of Metal’s plan. Even if they were worried, Amy would rather deal with them after the fact, asking them for forgiveness rather than permission.

Metal stared down at Amy. For all the spying and research he had done on Sonic and his friends, Metal was still astonished by her bravery and tenacity in the face of danger. Looking back on their early meeting, he always categorized her as a weak, defenseless being. Even as Amy had grown strong over the years, this was the first time Metal experienced her pluckiness on its own, unadulterated by the presence of her teammates. It impressed him more than he cared to admit.

The maneuver she’d pulled climbing up the mast had left Amy with a pretty noticeable wardrobe change, too. The short half-slip she wore under the layers of scarves at her waist allowed for her usual mobility; he was almost excited by the prospect of sparring with her now that she could move more freely. Her boots and stockings were in full view and the oversized frills of her blouse were more striking now. Metal had found the billowy ankle-length skirt fetching in its historical context, but now she looked...

“Couldn’t we do it at night when it’s not so hot?” she interrupted his thoughts.

“I am not looking forward to becoming as sensitive as you,” he quipped, getting his mind off Amy’s appearance. “But fine.”

The compass appeared to stabilize again. When he set off to research pirating, Metal failed to realize the amount of waiting involved on seafaring adventures and began to wish he’d commandeered a faster ship. But, at least the company was good.

It was more than Rouge could say for her guests. “Look, I appreciate your help fixing the ship and helping us navigate around that storm, but I’ve been hired to recover whatever’s on that island!”

She and Knuckles argued over the fate of “her” treasure for hours. “I’m telling you I just want one thing!” he asserted.

“And I’m telling you I can’t just hand you an artifact when our funding is on the line. There are legalities-”

“Since when do you care about what’s legal? This is more important than that!”

Rouge huffed, plopping into her desk chair with folded arms. “Maybe if you just told me why you’re after it I could talk to my patrons about-”

“No! No one can know what’s in there!”

“ Stop interrupting me! ” Rouge’s wings flared out behind her as she slammed her hands down on the desk. The two glared at each other, neither relenting until a knock came at her chamber door.

Tails pushed it ajar with sheepish caution. “Uh… Am I interrupting?”

“... You’re fine,” Rouge sighed in exasperation. “Sit.” She rubbed at her temples, taking a breath. “I just want to know what we’re after so I can help. Can one of you please explain what the fuss is about?”

“Come on,” Tails nudged Knuckles. “We’re on the same side…”

Knuckles groaned under his breath. “Fine.” Rouge leaned in to listen, resting her wary head in her hand as he continued. “We’re after a Knuckles Tribe artifact known as the Stone Mirror…” He explained some of its history and how they knew that it was buried among Scarlett’s treasure.

She waited until he was done, and then slid her chair back, pulling a large scroll from the top drawer of her desk. “I’d like to show you something.” Unrolling it revealed a copy of the same map they’d used to navigate, stitched-together from a set of letters written by Scarlett. “These letters were addressed to Beryl over the course of several months- she and Scarlett were married. It seemed Scarlett wasn’t too eager to reveal the location of her stronghold, even to her wife. Some say she sailed there alone after, well…” Pointing to one of the letters at the bottom, Rouge read some of its contents aloud.

“ I am sorry for how my selfish desire has destroyed our happiness. You slit your palm and gave your very blood for me, and in my deception we were cursed. It was the mirror that took your health, and my guilty action that will take you if we do not act. These riches were meant to be your assurance in case of my demise; Instead, I must seal away all that I have earned in the hopes of saving you. There is no time to waste coming for you- Please find me. Love, Scarlett. ”

She set down the scroll. “Earlier in it she writes about meeting some mystic that gave her information about a mysterious mirror and its curse. Something about lying toBeryl?”

“So she mentions it…” Knuckles pondered. “Legend states you need a blood sacrifice from someone else who’s ‘willing and knowledgeable about your intentions.’ Basically you lie and the other person gets cursed. Guess she found out a little too late.”

Rouge sat back in her chair, staring down at the collection of letters. “It’s well recorded that Scarlett recounted making some wish to become a great pirate. Historians just attribute it as a tall tale. Shame about Beryl, though,” she sighed. “In any case- this ‘Stone Mirror’ sounds dangerous.”

Knuckles nodded. “I don’t know how he found out, but I’m assuming it’s what Metal Sonic’s after.”

“... Okay. We’ll create a diversion to snatch up the mirror before the cameras can record it. But we’ll have to beat Metal Sonic there.”

The three of them nodded in agreement- Knuckles promising to find a way to destroy the dangerous artifact. And if they ran into their unexpected enemy at sea, there would be no choice but to subdue Metal Sonic before he could get his hands on it.

-----

Three days went by and there was still no sign of this mystical secret island, orany land for that matter. Actual pirates may have had work to do, but Metal Sonic’s three henchmen seemed to do the all work of a full crew in a quarter of the time. It left Amy and Metal with very little to do other than practice their swordsmanship and chat late into the night.

Amy picked up swordplay like it was second nature. It helped that there was little more to do, but she’d never had issues with swinging a weapon around. After a fourth day of practicing she was getting the hang of perrying against Metal Sonic and was serving combos that would give any other beginner a run for their money. Though she complained of sore muscles and exhaustion constantly, Amy fought against it nevertheless, advancing far quicker than either of them anticipated. Metal was forced to admit that he found it admirable- though he didn’t express it out loud.

Metal, for his part, found himself appreciating Amy’s companionship. Her witty nature complimented Metal’s droll quips, and she found it funny that he put so much effort into his tough pirate charade. He didn’t have anything to counter with when they’d shot back petty insults at one another and she’d finally burst into laughter, remarking on how insistent he was on appearing superior. Metal supposed she had a point, getting his own chuckle out of it. Amy continuously commented on how he would feel differently when his body was organic as if to test him. Of course, Metal played along, but each time he did, there was a nagging twitch in his mind.

The guilt Metal felt over manipulating Amy was beginning to weigh. For years, he’d waited for this kind of opportunity to get the upper hand on Sonic, to become something that not even his rival could imagine. Metal wasn’t sure what form he would ultimately take when he finally got hold of the Stone Mirror, but it was so far from the average organic being that Amy imagined for him. “I wonder what color your eyes will be,” she had mused aloud during an evening conversation- what a wholesome thought compared to Metal’s. He said that he hoped they’d be green like hers and got a laugh over her flustered babbling.

Out of all the things that could go wrong with his plan, feeling remorse was not something he prepared for. It’s not as if he’d ever felt guilty for acting in his own interest in the past, but Metal realized that he’d never worked with someone on a team as an equal, either. There was a sense of kinship between them that grew from fighting against the harrowing storm; They both quickly became comfortable in the other’s presence, as if having been friends for years. That was a first for Metal.

But he couldn’t let all his plotting and past failures go to waste. Metal wasn’t about to let one of his former enemies sway his plans. Amy was nice to have around but there would be others; this was the only time he’d get this opportunity.

But I may as well enjoy myself, he thought. After four days at sea spending most of Amy’s waking moments together, Metal had grown to enjoy their time together; It was a shame it wouldn’t last.

On day five, they met in his quarters while Metal dug around for another sharpened sword. He tossed props aside from a closet as he searched.

Amy stood at the shelf on the opposite end of the room, perusing through a book. “What are you looking for?”

“A sharpened sword,” he answered plainly.

“You have a sword… And claws...”

“It’s not for me- Ah, here we are.” Metal turned back to her, a sheathed sword in one hand and a long, red garment draped over the other. “H3 does find the strangest places to store things…”

Putting the book down, she spun to him curiously. “What’s that?”

“I missed seeing you in red,” he said in the most pompous tone he could manage, holding it out to her.

She took it with a smirk. “Another skirt?” Amy unrolled the garment, revealing a long, notched jacket with gold piping that framed it intricately.

“No, something more fitting this time.”

She threw it over herself excitedly. Belting the jacket at the waist, Amy smiled at her reflection. “Oh, it’s pretty. And way more functional,” she giggled, turning her friendly countenance to him. “Thanks.”

“I thought you would feel that way.” Metal unsheathed the sword and handed that to her as well. “Now we can really spar.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Seems kinda dangerous…”

“Hmph- I doubt you’ll land a hit,” Metal replied confidently. “And rest assured I will stop before the blade touches you.” He pointed the weapon at her theatrically.

Amy rolled her eyes. “It’s lunchtime- I’m taking a break.” She snatched the weapon from him, hanging it gingerly around her waist and making her way down to the kitchen. She was surprised to see Metal Sonic tagging along behind her. “You hungry?” she smirked.

“Something like that…”

She snickered a bit, not sure what to make of the comment but finding his presence enjoyable nonetheless. Amy got to work preparing her lunch while he observed her from across a high table, his cutlass drawn up to his eyes so he could look past it at her dramatically. She glanced at him with a scoff. “Making sure it’s sharp enough?”

“I can assure you, it is.”

Amy stuck out her tongue at him, sitting down on a tall stool to eat her lunch. “You are just as cocky as Sonic…”

Even if that was true, her comment irritated Metal. He sauntered around the table to her side, the sharp point of his weapon aimed at her. She didn’t appear phased. “I doubt that Sonic knows much about swordsmanship.”

“He’s apparently pretty skilled at it, actually,” Amy said, taking another bite.

“Seriously?”

With her mouth full, Amy shrugged. Metal lowered his sword, pacing around to her other side and looming over her shoulder. She continued to ignore his taunts as she ate. “I’m gonna grab some water…” Amy stood, continuing to watch him out of the corner of her eye. Turning back, she heard him speak again.

“En garde,” he announced with a lunge. The tip of his sword stopped just shy of her chest.

Glancing down at his weapon, Amy returned with a sweet smile. “Aw, how am I supposed to take you seriously if you won’t follow through?” She looked back up at him with doe eyes.

Metal met her soft gaze, locking his vision on her endearing face. “Well, would you like me to-”

Before he could finish, Amy had drawn her sword and gone for a parry, knocking his blade to the side. Then she lunged, closing the distance between them and bringing her weapon over his head. He swung his sword back up, blocking the hit. “Hmph! You’re just as impatient as Sonic, too,” Amy smirked.

“Argh!” Metal pushed her sword off and away from him, brandishing his in a ready position. “Will you continue to compare me to that imposter when I am organic?”

Amy held the same pose, teasing by twirling her weapon around in circles. “Depends. Are you gonna keep letting your life revolve around him?”

“Hm- How else would you and I get to spend time together?” Metal lunged, backing Amy against some kitchen equipment until she countered his attack with her own swing. She ducked underneath his next attack and backed away.

“You wanna hang out that bad?” she giggled. “Maybe just ask me out to coffee.”

“Oh,” Metal approached her slowly, his sword still drawn high. “What are those called again?”

“What are what called, weirdo?”

“Let me see…” As he continued his approach, Amy backed out through the kitchen door and into the narrow hallway. “Oh, a date ?”

Caught off guard, Amy lowered her weapon momentarily. He did the same as he neared her, their eyes locked. “Th-That’s not really-” His sword was upon her again a second later. She dodged, not having time to counter the sudden attack.Should’ve expected that, she thought, planning her next move.

But there was little time to think as Metal lunged toward her again, swinging from every direction as she struggled to block with her sword. They continued down the hall, clinking and striking their weapons together. Amy was just managing to remain defensive; he wouldn’t give her an opening.

Finally, Amy got in a parry after ducking from one of his swings and rolling behind him. When Metal turned back around, he narrowly avoided a swing that passed just under his chin. He sprung back. Out of striking distance, they both stared at each other, Metal holding his weapon down by his side. He was surprised that he didn’t feel the need to hold back more, feeling somewhat proud of Amy’s progress. But he wouldn’t let her know any of that.

“Ready to give up?” she teased.

He drew up the cutlass again, taking a step closer. “How easy could I possibly make it for you?”

Rather than fall back, Amy took his challenge and moved in his direction. “I don’t know… Looks like you’re having a pretty hard time to me,” she sneered. She was having more fun than she expected.

“I could say the same!” He rushed her then, Amy countering the next few swings.

Suddenly, they were each backed close to a wall as they stood in tandem in the narrow hallway, Metal just in front of a set of doors. As he swung again, she dove under his attack and through the double-doors. When the room came into full view, Amy looked on in awe. It was a grand ballroom, elegantly decorated in white and champagne- presumably for the wedding that was meant to be held there. Metal nearly landed a hit on her while she was distracted, but Amy seemed to be a master at dodging his lunges.

“Don’t get too distracted,” he taunted her.

“Hmph!”

Locked in battle, they continued moving down the length of the ballroom, circling around the winding rows of banquet tables and chairs. Metal was coming at Amy in full force, giving her little opportunity to counter. He could see her growing more tired now, her heart rate increasing exponentially as her breathing became more shallow. Taking advantage of this, Metal increased his speed and continued his swings, varying the direction so she couldn’t duck behind him again. They fought their way to the front of the room where the space was more open. Footsteps clicked as they stepped across the hard dancefloor that spanned from wall to wall at the front of the ballroom. Soon, Metal had completely backed Amy into a wall as she panted.

Amy realized that she was, perhaps, a bit too confident. Even if she were to get to a point where her skills surpassed his, Metal Sonic couldn’t tire in battle as fast as she would. She had to find a different advantage.

When she tried to perform an unexpected lunge, his sword made contact with her own so harshly that she lost her grip. It clanged to the ground next to her. Metal used his forearm to pin Amy to the wall by her chest.

She let out a grunt as she clashed with the wall behind her. Panting, Amy glared up at him in exasperation. “Are you satisfied now?”

“I am… impressed.” Metal cocked his head to one side, observing as her chest heaved under his grip. “But I knew you wouldn’t best me so easily.”

“Really? I thought you had more confidence in your teaching skills. I know I’m a great coach...”

Metal stared on at her curiously. “Is that so? And what do you teach?”

Amy gestured to the floor with her eyes. “I taught Sonic how to tango pretty well-” She was cut off as he pressed his forearm against her more firmly.

“Hmph- if you think that will distract me-”

“Hey,” Amy’s face softened into a smile as she interrupted him. She reached a hand up, taking hold of Metal’s lapel. He glanced down at the gesture in confusion. “You wanna know how else you’re like Sonic?”

“... Do tell.”

“C’mere.” Amy held an almost saccharine expression as she gently tugged his collar toward her.

She hardly had to pull as Metal allowed himself to be drawn into her. It may have been a ruse- he was fairly confident in that- but he was greatly interested in what she had to say as she lifted her chin to speak into his ear. Metal remained vigilant as Amy continued.

“You’re really cute,” she whispered.

Staggering back, Metal fixed her eyes with his. She twinkled back at him. “What do you-”

A sharp blow to the side of his head sent Metal off from atop Amy and to the ground. He lost command of his sword just as her enormous hammer came into his peripheral view. Of course - the thought ran across his mind as Metal landed on his side noisily. Amy sprinted to snatch his sword from off the ground as he readied to come back on his feet- but her boot heel was upon his chest before he got any further than facing her. Metal’s heavy body banged on the hard dancefloor as she pushed him down under her foot. Amy stood over him with his own sword pointed just under Metal’s chin. She was grinning from ear to ear as she watched his broken eye illuminate for a moment.

Metal would have been furious if she’d looked malicious, but her sparkling grin was so… cheery. “It’s cute that you think you can beat me so easily!” Amy laughed with genuine amusement as she removed her boot from his body.

His left eye now flickering again, Metal could only manage to glare for a second until he found himself chuckling as well. “That was most certainly cheating…”

“Didn’t know you had such strict rules.” Beaming, Amy allowed the hammer to disappear from her grasp and offered Metal a hand up. The lights in his left eye sputtered out again as he stood. “Hey, I almost fixed your eye! Maybe another wack will do it,” she smiled.

“Somehow I doubt that.” He hadn’t let go of her hand, instead using it to jerk her toward him. “But perhaps you could show me your little dance now?”

“Ah… I don’t know if you’d really enjoy it.” Amy offered Metal his sword, holding it between them.

He took it from her gently and slid it down by his side. “Won’t you indulge me?”

Her cheeks flushed lightly. Amy had just said it to distract him; she could teach, but she suddenly felt flustered in such close proximity. “Well… Maybe-”

The room shook then. Metal kept Amy from losing her footing as the ship rolled unexpectedly. They gave each other a look of concern.

“Is it another storm?” Amy asked.

Metal shook his head. “No- come to the deck, don’t forget your sword.”

He was floating out the door before Amy could find the words to respond. She followed him, picking up the weapon she’d dropped to sprint down the hall and up the long staircases.

“Surrender Amy Rose and the artifacts at once!” Rouge was flying above her deck speaking into her megaphone with Knuckles, Tails, and her crew on deck below. Her ship floated across from Metal Sonic’s as cameramen focused on both of the captains.

Metal stood nonchalantly with his arms crossed behind, amplifying his voice to speak. “I can assure you she is under no duress.”

Knuckles had managed to snag a megaphone of his own and was now putting the full force of his voice into it. “Then where is she?!”

Metal squinted at the rumbling noise, his receptors vibrating uncomfortably. “Argh- You do not need to yell into that, I can hear you just fine.”

“Tell us where she is now!” Knuckles was getting ready to threaten him as Amy busted through to the deck. The three henchmen burst through just behind her.

When she spotted her friends, Amy’s face lit up and she ran to the ship’s railing. Metal remained in his stately pose behind her in an attempt to indicate that there was no threat. “Guys!” Amy waved, “I’m okay!”

Leaning close to the rails, Knuckles yelled into his megaphone again. “We can’t hear you-”

“Knuckles, that’s enough! I can hear her just fine so shut up,” Rouge snapped down at him. He crossed his arms irritably, grumbling. “Amy,” she continued, “we’re here to rescue you; are you hurt?”

Waving her hands in front of her, Amy answered as loud as she could. “Rouge, I’m fine! Are you guys okay?”

“Us?” she looked puzzled, “You were the one who was kidnapped...”

“It’s okay, I’m, uh…” she turned to beckon Metal, who looked almost bored at the turn of events. He approached her slowly, keeping an eye on the others. Once he was within reach, Amy clung to his arm in a friendly gesture as his expression became nonplused. “I’m helping Metal! Let’s team up!”

He whipped around to her with reproach. “That is not part of the plan!”

“Plans can change,” she responded in a low voice before addressing Rouge again. “Let us aboard and I’ll explain!”

Completely perplexed, Rouge didn’t know how to respond. Knuckles was shouting at her to repeat what Amy was saying and Tails began to call out to her as well. “Don’t move,” Rouge directed a command at Metal with a glare before floating down to the others. “What do you two want?!”

Tails pushed Knuckles aside in order to get a word in. “We’ve detected an island 30 naughtical miles from here in the direction of the compass- there’s no other land within range. It has to be the place. We can be there in the next couple of hours. We need to get Amy back ASAP.”

“We’re that close?” Rouge glanced back across the way to the other ship, where Amy and Metal appeared to be… arguing? Their tones were too hushed to decipher the speech, but neither was fighting the other. Though they both waved their hands around in apparent annoyance, Amy held him close to her without any resistance. Rouge didn’t know what to make of it. “She said… she’s helping him.”

“Helping Metal Sonic?” Tails looked just as confused now.

Knuckles butted back in, shoving Tails aside. “She said that? What’s his game?”

“How should I know?” Rouge brought her hands to her hips in frustration. “She said she wants to come aboard to explain.”

“That sounds like a trap!”

Rouge nodded in agreement. “But it’s the only way to get her back peacefully. We’ll just have to be ready for him.”

The boys each nodded in reluctant agreement. Rouge took a breath and quietly signaled her crew to be on alert. Approaching the side of her ship, she called out to the others. “You may board. We will extend the bridge.”

Amy and Metal paused their arguing to come to her attention. “Don’t you-” he started before Amy interrupted him.

“No need, we’ll fly over!” She faced him. “Come on, let’s go.” He glared at her with resentment, worried he’d just be ambushed and forced to engage, putting his plan in jeopardy. Amy tightened her grip on his arm and lowered her voice. “I’ll hold on to you so they don’t attack.”

His glare softened. That should work , he thought with some remorse. He wished he could feel more positively about tricking Amy so well she was willing to risk her safety for him. When Metal nodded, she climbed into his arms readily. She really held no doubt in him.

“You three,” he told his henchmen, “... be on alert.” H1 shot forward, standing on the ship’s railing and pointing ahead. “... Yes, I suppose I should bring one of you. Move.” Metal could the others’ clinking salutes as he and H1 lifted off, Metal flying over the sea carefully with Amy. A cameraman on a lower deck followed their path while another stood near Rouge, recording their landing. The little minion stood readily by Metal’s feet as the crew took steps towards them, encircling them steadily. Metal gazed around at them but did not move.

Knuckles came the closest. “It’s time to drop her,” he demanded.

“Very well.” Metal lowered Amy to her feet and she quickly wrapped herself around his arm, taking a step in front of him.

“I’m okay, Knuckles. I’m gonna hang onto Metal for now, okay?”

“Why? What is this?” Knuckles was shouting again, continuing his approach. “Did you do something to her brain?”

Metal scoffed, standing his ground. “What exactly do you think I could do?” A camera came up close to the side of his face while a mic loomed above. He turned his head sharply, his single blazing eye catching the crewmember off guard. “Is there something I can help you with?” The cameraman scrambled back, making himself scarce.

“Metal, just ignore it,” Amy tugged on him while his eye rolled around his screen.

“Alright,” Rouge’s assertive voice cut through the crowd that was quickly forming in front of them. “Everyone back off, you’ll hear my signal if I need you. That goes for you, too, Knucklehead. Move!” As her crew dispersed and the cameras backed to a safe distance, Rouge stood some feet in front of them. “So you made friends with Metal Sonic? I’d find it cute if I wasn’t still bruised from his last attack.”

Amy chuckled awkwardly back at her. “Yeah, well… you look great in your new uniform.”

“Hmph.” Rouge cracked a smile as she saw Amy there, protecting her unlikely friend from attack. It was almost sweet. “Well I’m relieved you don’t look too bad yourself. Cute jacket.”

“Thanks, uh… Metal picked it out,” Amy smiled.

“Really?” Rouge turned her attention to him. “Charming. Now what is it you want?”

When he didn’t respond after a few seconds, Amy cut in. “Metal has a… request. For the Stone Mirror.”

“What?!” Knuckles came booming back, stomping his feet.

Rouge held her arm out in front of him with a brief glare, then continued. “We’ll talk in my quarters. No cameras. Come on,” she turned on her heel and beckoned for only Amy and her “friends” to join her. They all followed behind Rouge awkwardly as the crew murmured around them, cameras following their every move.

Rouge locked the door behind them once they were in the privacy of her office. Then she faced Amy and scolded her. “You cannot go around mentioning magical artifacts in front of the crew. Why do you think you were all after it in the first place?”

Amy shrunk back, still clinging to a silent Metal Sonic. “Sorry… You’re right…”

Rouge sighed with exasperation, sinking into her chair. “Will you all sit?! You’re making me anxious.” As everyone complied, Knuckles most reluctantly, Rouge addressed Metal Sonic with some sarcasm. “I would love to hear what you have in mind for the mirror.”

After some seconds of silence, Amy nudged him. H1 climbed up the chair legs to sit in his lap, staring up at him. Metal shot them each an irritated look before starting. “I would like to use the Stone Mirror to become… organic.” He’d lied to Amy so easily, but was almost embarrassed to show such vulnerability with the rest of his enemies.

“Organic?” Rouge massaged her temple. “I don’t even know what to say to that. And Amy, you believe this?”

“Doesn’t matter if she believes it or not,” Knuckles butted in, “there’s no way Metal Sonic’s getting his hands on the mirror!”

Rouge nodded. “Unfortunately, I’m inclined to agree.”

Amy ignored Knuckles and spoke to her instead. “For the record, I do believe him. And I think it’s a good reason to use the mirror.”

Rouge shushed Knuckles before he could start again. “Amy… There’s something you should see.” She opened the top drawer of her desk and retrieved the same copy of the map she’d shown Tails and Knuckles. “I’m sure you know about Scarlett’s treasure and her letters to her wife, Beryl.” Metal’s piercing glare was already scanning through the text in the letters as Amy nodded. Rouge explained the entirety of the Stone Mirror’s curse, blood sacrifice and all, as Amy listened in shock.

“Amy,” Rouge’s tone softened. “This is a big risk for you…”

“Look, this thing cursed Beryl because of her wife’s dishonesty.” Knuckles got up angrily, pointing a finger at Metal Sonic. “Are you really willing to risk that for him ?”

“ Oh, ” Amy lowered her eyes in thought, her grip on Metal’s arm loosening slightly.

“The only way to lift the curse was for her to give her own blood and leave everything she’d gained behind; Hence why she sent for Beryl to meet back with her on the island. She tragically passed before making it off the ship.” Rouge stood from her desk and circled around to the front, facing Amy and folding her arms. “And I’m sorry to say I don’t trust Metal Sonic as far as I can throw him.”

The new information shouldn’t have changed Metal’s plan. He was willing to do anything for an advantage against his nemesis- or so he thought. But now, spending a few days with one of his enemies was enough to sway him? He supposed he could get The Doctor to sacrifice for him- he would revel in the opportunity to take Sonic down... No, he thought, I can’t let her get in my way. It wasn’t as if she’d be safe from him when he finally transformed into whatever monster he could conjure. And yet…

“If I may,” he spoke finally, placing his claws softly over Amy’s hand as it held his forearm. “Your blood will not be necessary. Someone else can take the burden.” He turned to Rouge. “I am only asking for use of the artifact to fulfill my wish.”

“Fat chance,” Knuckles interjected. “I still don’t believe you’re telling the truth- no way I’m letting you turn into a monster again. No deal.”

“Knuckles…” Rouge strode over to him. “Can I have a word, privately?”

He raised a brow at her but agreed. “... Fine. Tails, keep an eye on Metal Sonic.”

“Sure?” the boy looked at his enemy, sitting calmly with one of his best friends at his side. He hardly looked threatening.

As they stepped out, Amy faced Metal again. “Who’s gonna help you if I don’t?”

“... I believe The Doctor will be willing.”

Tails looked at them skeptically. “Eggman knows you wanna do this?”

“No,” Metal replied, once again carefully curating his words so they did not sound suspicious- or make him feel any worse. “He has few details of my plan. I am not sure how he tracked us a few days ago, but I do not believe he will deny me. I wanted to complete the task independently, but I will do what I must.”

“Well I’ll help you if he won’t,” Amy assured.

“Amy, you’ll die if he’s lying,” Tails shot back.

She scoffed as if it didn’t matter. “We’ll all die if he’s lying.”

“How is that better?! How can you be sure he’s telling the truth?”

Amy paused. She felt his steely fingers on her and focused her ears on his gently whirring engine. H1 looked at her from Metal’s lap expectantly. It wasn’t clear to her just why she’d grown to trust him so quickly, but she knew in her heart he would do the right thing. “Because he wants someone to kick his butt at sword fighting,” she smiled. “I’ve gotten pretty good at it the past few days, you know.”

Metal could no longer look at her. He removed his hand from atop hers and sat silently, trying not to let the guilt overcome him.

Tails’ face contorted. “What are you even talking about?”

The door cracked open then, Rouge stepping back inside. She addressed Metal Sonic directly. “We will allow you use of the Stone Mirror,” she began. “Knuckles will take it immediately after. No one on my crew is to know about it- we’re after the treasure only. We expect to come up on the island in the next hour, so get back to your ship and wait for a tow.”

“That soon?” Metal asked.

“Yes. You are not to step foot on land in order to avoid suspicion. We’ll recover the artifacts.”

“... Very well. Let us return, then.” He removed H1 from his lap and rose, Amy’s fingers slipping away from him.

“Amy’s staying with us,” Knuckles called from the door.

Amy’s cheeks puffed indignantly. “ Amy’s going where she wants. I’m staying with Metal.” She stood and pushed Knuckles out of her way, taking her leave.

Metal thanked Rouge and went past the others without a second glance, his lackey scurrying behind. There was no doubt they were plotting something against him, and Metal was determined to make it onto that island and get his hands on the mirror himself- by force if necessary. He would do anything. Almost anything .

The second Amy and Metal stepped out, a set of cameras once again bombarded them. It assured they went away and off the ship quickly so Metal Sonic couldn’t hear what was being discussed in Rouge’s quarters without them.

Inside, Tails got up from his seat. “Are we really just gonna let Metal Sonic use the mirror?”

“Absolutely not,” Knuckles shot back.

“But Amy doesn’t need to know that yet.” Rouge leaned back on the front of her desk pensively. “We’re getting ahead of him so he can’t threaten us with whatever he wants to do with the mirror. No doubt Metal Sonic will get... forceful.”

“Stubborn girl,” Knuckles grumbled. “It’d be easier to keep her safe if she’d stayed here…”

“Arguing with her would blow our cover; and she can take care of herself. Let’s just be ready for whatever he throws at us.”

Tails’ ears drooped slightly. “I wish Sonic could help us, he’d make quick work of Metal…”

“Who needs him?” Knuckles puffed his chest out confidently. “I’m bored of watching them fight anyway!”

-----

Metal and Amy stood at the bow of his great ship, the breeze blowing through Amy’s hair gently. She leaned forward, looking into the horizon, waiting to spot land. They were moving a little faster now as Rouge’s vessel towed them across the sea. Metal stood next to her watching the compass intently. They continued on the right path. It was minutes away now.

Suddenly the hidden inscription on the back made a lot more sense. He shone a pale violet light over it and read- The Mirror’s bloodlust was nothing to me, for I’d have bled myself dry for you. It didn’t just seem like useless theatrics, but the caring words of someone willing to sacrifice for another. What Metal didn’t understand, however, was how Amy was so ready and willing to do the same for him. Worse than deceptive, it felt undeserved.

Spotting his intense concentration on the compass, Amy spoke up. “Crazy how Beryl gave everything to Scarlett like that, huh?”

Metal did his best to shake his head clear of the guilt. “Yes. I suppose she cared for her.”

“That’s an understatement,” Amy chuckled.

“Is it? Then... what is it you feel that makes you so willing to do the same for me?”

Amy swiveled over to look at him directly. He stared down at the compass, not meeting her gaze. “I guess I think it’ll be good for us both.”

“How can you be so sure? Are you convinced I will immediately betray The Doctor and join your team?”

“I guess not…” Amy frowned at the thought. She knew it was an unrealistic expectation, though she remained hopeful he would change for the better somehow. “But I think we should all be free to make our own choices. Maybe you’ll make some good ones.”

“I am not so sure…”

There was a drawn-out sigh as she leaned her back in contemplation. Amy couldn’t help but see the good in people, and when she looked at Metal now, she saw more than a lifeless machine. There was passion in his voice and enthusiasm in his demeanor whenever they indulged in his interests. There was a small sparkle in his eye when they spoke. She had seen him joyful, and concentrated, and playful, where all she would have previously associated him with was rage. But more than that, Amy felt a connection, like perhaps this was something they were meant to do together. How else could they have become such fast friends? Friends, she smiled at the thought. It filled her with optimism. She rolled her head back on her shoulder to look to him again, their eyes locking this time. He’d been staring- it wasn’t the first time she noticed, but he didn’t dart his eyes away this time.

Softening her eyes, Amy looked at him dreamily in the late afternoon light. “I think you’ll do what’s right for you. That’s enough for me.”

Seeing that honeyed expression and hearing such genuine words, Metal never regretted anything more than he regretted bringing her along. I should have just worked alone, he scolded himself. How could he have miscalculated the outcome so terribly? In his mind, Amy would reluctantly agree to help and he’d otherwise use her as a shield against her friends’ attack;. Nothing prepared him for feeling something toward her. There was a kinship, a bond that quickly formed like puzzle pieces fitting together. They managed to just… click. There was no room in his plan for that. But he was so close…

“I do not believe your friends have such faith in me,” he said finally.

“Yeah, I kinda got that feeling. I think we’re gonna have to sneak onto that island first if you want a chance at the mirror.”

That was nothing short of surprising to hear. “You would deceive your friends?”

“It’s for a good cause- they’ll forgive me. You’ll see.”

For the first time in days, land came into view on the horizon. It was a lush green island with little more than a tall mountain rising from its center. It was tiny even as they approached. Metal and Amy exchanged looks as they spotted it.

“Looks like this is it,” she remarked. “Just a teeny island with a little mountain…”

“It appears that way.” He scanned as far as he could zoom with his optics, getting a closer look at the landscape that was still some miles away. “That, however, is a volcano.”

“No kidding...” Amy glanced around the side of the vessel. “Is there a boat around here? We need to sneak ahead if we want to reach the treasure before the others.”

“I have a better idea...”

As Rouge and her crew were making preparations to dock, Tails spotted something flying in the distance. A look through his binoculars revealed H3 and H4 flying in tandem at full speed, apparently trying to get ahead of both ships. “Hey, those are Metal’s lackeys over there.”

Rouge ripped the binoculars from his hands. “They’re trying to get ahead of us, then? We’ll see about that. Tails, come with me; Knuckles, maybe you should pay our friend a visit.” Knuckles nodded as the others both kicked themselves off and toward the flying robots.

They caught up to them quickly and tried to block their way, but were soon engaged in battle. H3 and H4 used primarily evasive tactics and steadily drifted them in the opposite direction of the island while Knuckles made his way across Rouge’s ship and over to Metal’s.

Knuckles climbed over the tow rope that connected the ships and landed on deck with a shout. “Metal Sonic! Call back your minions, now!” Not hearing an answer, Knuckles stomped across the hard floor until he found the entrance to the captain’s quarters just below the helm. Not one to wait for invitations, he made quick work of the door with his fists. He punched through the splintered wood, finding Metal Sonic sitting across the room, the back of his captain’s hat visible over the winged armchair that faced away from the door. “I said call them back now!” Metal did not respond. “Did you hear me? And where’s Amy?!” Knuckles marched over to the chair, swiveling it around to face him. “I said-”

Instead of Metal Sonic, Knuckles was met with H1, who quickly ambushed him with his long rope-arms, holding him in place. “Damn you little-” Knuckles continued to struggle against H1, his master nowhere to be found.

“Well done, H1,” a shrill voice chimed from the door.

Knuckles twisted his body around clumsily to look. The rage in his eyes grew when he saw him. “Eggman!” Knuckles yelled just as his voice was swallowed up by H1’s coils around his mouth.

Meanwhile, Metal carried Amy swiftly over the water, floating quietly close to its surface. They stuck near the side of Rouge’s ship until they snuck ahead of it. The pair managed to make it to shore well before Rouge’s crew as she and the others remained distracted with Metal’s henchmen. They booked it across the sandy beach and onto the greener area, searching for another clue as to where exactly they’d find the treasure.

“Okay… what now?” Amy’s eyes darted around the scenery looking for any hint of a hidden treasure.

Metal looked to the compass that continued to point northward. “This way,” he instructed, accelerating into the small forest of palms that surrounded the volcano’s base with Amy on his heels. They ran deep into the tropical thicket as the sky above changed hue, the sun nearing the horizon. It wasn’t long before they reached a black stone wall overgrown with moss.

“Looks like this is the end of the line…” Amy ran her hand along the wall in search of another hint.

As Metal approached, he found the hand that held the compass was repelled, as if an invisible force pushed it away. Intruiged, he held out his other arm, feeling no such push. The device’s hand spun left and right wildly as he waved it in front of the wall. “Interesting…” He placed a claw on the wall, scratching at it. He was able to make a mark on its surface with little effort. “This is some kind of volcanic rock. It repels whatever this is made of…”

“Really? Must be why it points in the other direction?” Unsure of what else to do, Amy pulled the little crystal spyglass from her pocket, looking through its eyepiece. She scanned the wall up and down, the atmospheric light turning deep red as it had just before they’d set sail together. She stopped, finding a small spot that glowed faintly. It was a small divot in the rock. “There’s something here...” Amy pawed at the vines that crept up its surface, scratching off years of moss that had grown over the glowing spot.

She finally revealed the formation under all the greenery. “Oh! It’s shaped like-”

“Like a heart,” Metal interrupted, shining his own violet light upon the small heart-shaped crater. He approached it slowly, eyes fixed on the compass. Its rapidly twisting arrow straightened as he neared the spot. The correctly pointed side of the arrow indicated straight ahead. Reaching out, the compass practically jumped out of his hand from the magnetic pull as he moved to place it in the glowing divot.

To their left, the rocky base of the volcano rumbled. They whipped around to find a wall shifting, vines and moss tearing apart as a stone slab lifted off the ground to reveal a narrow entrance to a hollow cave within.

“Well that seems like a pretty clear path to me,” Amy grinned. But it was short lived as a sudden explosion boomed from the direction of the beach. Worried for her friends, Amy looked at Metal with concern. “What was that?”

Metal was just as shocked. “I don’t know…” He raised his eyeline to scan the sky, seeming to spot something not far away. Why here? He asked himself as he recognized the round figure.

“Why are you here?” he amplified his voice to The Doctor.

“To help you get the Stone Mirror, of course!” he called back giddily. “I’ll be happy to give you what you need! What form are you taking?” Another silhouette came into view above not far from them.

Metal shot a glance back at Amy. “When did you call him?” She stared up at Eggman with confusion.

“I didn’t,” Metal responded. Before he could think of what to tell Amy, he watched as H1 hovered down next to The Doctor, his arms still tangled around an enraged Knuckles. But Metal didn’t call for H1, either- which could only mean it was The Doctor’s doing. “Is this how you found me?” Metal growled, incensed at the realization.

“Wasn’t H1 useful?” Eggman cackled. “I know you wanted to work on your own, but aren’t you glad I was watching now that you need me?”

Metal was within reach of completing his mission on his own terms. The sight of his master infuriated him, his determination to succeed without The Doctor's help returning in full-force. He’d convinced Amy, he’d made it to the island- he was going to complete his objective. Why should he feel guilty about that?

“I don’t need you!” he roared. “I have everything I need!” He accelerated toward H1, grabbing the smaller robot by his shoulders as Knuckles uttered muffled curses while they flailed around in mid-air. “ Double-crossing heap of scrap metal! ” Metal’s voice rang out with a harsh mechanical twinge as he took hold of either of H1’s arms and swiftly ripped them out of their sockets, dropping Knuckles a few feet to the ground. As H1 kicked his feet around helplessly, Metal grabbed him by the head and catapulted him out of sight, far back in the direction of the beach.

His eye radiated a fierce, burning glow as he whipped around to face Amy, who looked horrified at his actions. “We need to go, now!”

“What? But what about-”

“Go!” Metal extended his arm out, shoving Amy through the cave opening.

“Metal!” Eggman shouted, “What’s gotten into you? That’ll take me all evening to fix!”

Ignoring him, Metal flew back toward the opening as Knuckles began to slip away from the heavy uncoiling tubes. “I’ll leave you to deal with him, ” he called back to The Doctor. Once inside the cave, Metal shot his arm out once more, grabbing and ripping the compass from its spot in the wall. The limb retracted back past the opening just as the stone wall fell back into place, narrowly avoiding crushing his hand.

They were swallowed in the pitch darkness of the cave. Metal illuminated his thermal vision in search of a path ahead, but was met with Amy’s panicked eyes first. Unable to see, she groped around for a wall to follow until Metal grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him.

She did not look the slightest bit relieved. “Metal! I can’t see anything…”

“I can guide us; let’s go.”

“Wait- what was…” he saw her glance back toward the direction of the cave entrance unhappily. “I mean, wasn’t that kinda harsh? What you did to H1…”

“Perhaps- but he was a traitor as far as I’m concerned.”

“Yeah, but, you really seemed to hurt him...”

The clock was ticking and there was only so much time before the others would come after them. “He will be fine,” Metal grumbled impatiently, starting forward.

Amy let herself be pulled along, but she wasn’t dropping the question. “It’s just… is that really the kind of person you want to be?” Amy quickly remembered how she’d thought of Metal. She had forgotten how absurd it was that she’d agreed to help him and how he’d coerced her into it to begin with.

“I’ve been betrayed, how would you have liked me to react?”

“Were you? It really sounds like Eggman was trying to help you-”

“I don’t need his help!” He cut Amy off. Her eyes cast down anxiously and Metal registered the doubt and unease in her face. She almost looked sick, stumbling in the dark and frightened by his violent reaction. He knew she was right to feel that way, but his mind was made up- he would do whatever it took to use the Stone Mirror without The Doctor’s help. And Amy had to be willing, so something had to be said to assuage her. “I can’t be indebted to him any longer. I need to do this alone.”

“But you can’t do it alone, Metal, that’s the point!” Amy’s hands fumbled over his arm until she reached his shoulder, facing up at the single glowing eye, the only thing she could see. “I know you wanna be independent, but we all depend on people. Don’t you think he cares about you if he’s willing to give you this much freedom?”

In a way, she was right- but without knowing the truth, Amy would never understand. Metal highly doubted The Doctor would actually help if he’d really wished to become organic, but he could not deny his master’s well-meaning interest. They had the same goal, after all… Metal just knew he could accomplish it without him. Perhaps then he could feel as if he were an equal in his empire and not just some high-ranking lackey. But how much of that could he really tell her?

“It is different… He created me, and he can control me. I cannot escape his shadow.”

“Is having flesh and blood really gonna change that?”

“... I do not know.” Any illumination provided by Metal’s eye turned to darkness. To Amy, it looked like he’d closed his eyes, though he continued to lead her forward without issue. He just wanted her to look away, making the guilt easier to beat down- but she held her ground. Metal continued, turning his face from her. “I believe that changing my form will give me some sovereignty, making me more respectable in his eyes... It is complicated.”

“I know.” Amy looked for the red LEDs to come back on so she could look Metal in the eye, but they remained out. “But I think you can accomplish that as you are.”

Metal stopped as they approached a wall. He could still see Amy looking lamentful in his peripheral vision, her hand in his as the other clung to his shoulder assuringly. This must have been where the treasure was stored, but he wasn’t sure he could still bring himself to deceive her. He made himself visible to her again, shining his red light on her face. He felt her exhale, as if relieved, when he did. “Are you… still willing to help me?”

A small smile spread across her lips. “Of course. I just wanted you to know that I think you’re capable, you know?”

Perhaps secretly, he’d hoped she would refuse. But there was no turning back now. “I believe we are here...”

“What is it?”

“A door… without a handle.” He stared at the wall head, a smooth slab that extended from the floor to the ceiling of the cave. The shape of a door looked to be carved into it, a circular cavity in place of where a doorknob would be. Words were painted in a neat script following the shape of the hole, appearing to have faded over the decades. “There is a bore hole. It reads, ‘For my greatest treasure: my gem, Beryl.’”

“Oh, ’cause Beryl is named after a gemstone, right? Pretty romantic,” Amy teased, wanting to lighten the mood.

“It is… clever.” Metal examined the hole in the door, measuring its diameter and determining its depth. Amy knelt ahead of him, her hand sliding off his shoulder and reaching out to the wall. She ran her fingers blindly along its surface in search of a clue. He watched as she felt around the great stone barrier, apparently determined to do whatever she could to help. With Amy’s other hand still held in his own, Metal led her to the carved edge of the doorframe. “This is the door,” he said, her fingers tracing down the groove in the stone. “And the bore hole.” He pulled her hand to the spot in the door where one would find a doorknob.

Amy placed her palm over it. “It’s kinda warm,” she remarked, feeling as balmy air flowed through from the other side.

“Yes,” he agreed, hesitantly pulling away.

“ My gem, Beryl, ” she repeated. “Hm…” Fumbling around her pocket, Amy pulled out the spyglass and held it up with the bluish crystal at the end. “Does this look like beryl?”

Metal’s hard claws clicked against the crystal as he held it between his thumb and forefinger. “It does… how theatrical.” There was amusement in his voice as he realized. “Shall we?”

Amy nodded, beaming with excitement. She brought the eyepiece end up to the hole in the wall, letting Metal push the crystal into the divot until it clicked. Pulling herself up by his arm, Amy gave him an encouraging nudge. Metal paused. He stared down at her a moment. “Go on,” she insisted with a smile.

Before they could move ahead, however, a sliver of orange light entered through the floor of the stone corridor. Looking back, Metal and Amy found the door to the cave once again rising, Rouge’s silhouette just illuminated in the late sunset as it rose. Knuckles and Tails weren’t far behind her but neither Eggman nor any of the henchmen were within sight. “This is the end of the line!” she commanded, stepping into the cave.

Metal and Amy shared a brief glance, and she gave him a single nod. “Do what you have to, but be careful, okay?”

If there was a time for Metal to reverse his decision, it was now. But though he hesitated, Metal returned her nod and turned to face the cave opening. The cavity in his chest began to glow with a white light that quickly brightened, luminous with energy. “I suggest you remain where you are,” he warned Rouge.

She stepped back slightly with a gasp, unsure if she could block his attack. “Amy, call him off before someone gets hurt!” she demanded.

Amy shook her head desperately. “Just stay back!”

Knuckles came charging in then, his eyes ablaze as he rushed past Rouge and started down the length of the corridor. Tails made a fruitless effort to stop him but was quickly pushed out of the way.

Rouge yelled, following after Knuckles. “Don’t!”

The compression chamber in Metal’s chest was charged, brilliant with energy. He turned his head slightly to Amy. “You stand back as well,” he advised. Not letting Knuckles get too close, Metal levitated a few inches up and aimed his chest engine up toward the cave ceiling. Rouge just managed to tackle Knuckles to the ground as Metal’s laser fired into the stone ceiling, causing a pile of gravel to rain down between them. Metal shot himself backward and away from the falling stone. As his feet hit the ground, he forced Amy to the wall and stood between her and the collapsing ceiling, blocking the stray debris with his body.

She shut her eyes and used her arms to shield her head, but Metal didn’t let so much as a pebble past his frame. As the dust cleared, Amy peeked up. Metal towered above her crouched form, only his glowing eye once again visible in the darkened cave as it stared down at her. Amy hid her face, slightly flushed from the excitement- and the proximity.

Metal pushed himself from the wall, offering her a hand. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” she squeaked, accepting the boost. “What about you?”

“No sustained damage.”

They stared at each other for a moment, once again hand in hand. Metal listened to her quickened heartbeat and observed the warmth surrounding her face. Amy panted lightly. She looked especially radiant in his thermal vision, her cheeks illuminated bright red. “Thank you,” Metal blurted out.

She looked at what little she could see of him with wide eyes. “What… what for?”

He wasn’t sure. “For… everything.”

“Well,” Amy slipped her hand away from his gently. “Don’t thank me yet. We’re almost there! Oh-” she hopped past him and lifted her voice, hoping it reached the other side of the debris pile. “Are you guys okay?”

There was a short pause before Rouge called back. “You’re lucky no one’s hurt!”

Amy released her tense breath. “Thank goodness! I’m sorry, we’re going to the treasure room now!”

“The what?!”

They could hear Rouge cursing from across the heap momentarily. Then Metal could just catch Tails utter something before their voices quickly faded away.

“I think we should hurry,” Amy said, hurrying back to his side. Metal simply nodded, reaching for the eyepiece in the wall.

The crystal spyglass turned like a knob in a door. Metal pulled it open and was immediately greeted with a burst of hot air that shot past them, the stone door acting as the only barrier to keep them from being scorched. As the air passed, the enormous chamber beyond became illuminated with torches lining the walls. On the farthest wall, a thin stream of magma flowed down the height of the farthest wall, making the space sear with radiant heat.

Standing ahead of her to look past the door, Metal cautioned Amy. “We are here. But for some reason Scarlett decided to store her treasure in a magma chamber.”

“That’s… terrifying. What else is in there?”

Metal stepped from the back of the stone door, standing in the entrance of the mysterious chamber with its seemingly magical torches and streaming lava. And then there was the treasure; Mounds of sparkling gold coins that glittered even in the dreariest of light were speckled with ingots and gilded statues all across the dusty ground. The center of the room was covered inches deep in jewels, silvery blades buried within the treasure to their gem encrusted hilts. Within it, on a platform mounded with riches, sat an ivory casket, its edges shining with golden filigree inlaid with rubies and sapphires. And finally, atop it all sat a simple stone box, its dull surface clashing with the glimmering room. “What we have been looking for,” Metal said with more lament than he intended.

Pushing past the door, Amy stood next to him and took in the magnificent sight for herself. She gasped with awe, her wide eyes shining with a golden halo in the warm light. “It’s beautiful,” she sighed. Amy stepped inside, giggling. “Rouge is gonna freak!” The balmy air was stifling, but she ignored it and moved ahead, approaching the room’s center.

He followed her in cautiously, kicking random bits of treasure aside. “Be careful, there could be traps…” He watched as she pushed ahead, seeing her trod through the thick blanket of coins that littered the ground without hesitation. She fanned herself and pulled on her blouse collar uncomfortably, but headed straight for the macabre chest that sat in the middle of it all. There was no uncertainty in her stride- Amy was determined to help Metal in any way possible. He didn’t expect that to be so devastating.

Amy made her way up the elevated platform, standing on her toes to reach up to the top of the casket. There was an inscription on the lid of the stone box that sat on it. “ DO NOT OPEN,” it read. Raising a brow, Amy leaned in closer to find additional words on the front. “There’s an inscription on here…” She read it aloud: “The box reads, ‘In this casket lies Beryl, all I loved besides the sea. In this box, my remorse. Leave this cursed object where you found it; The remainder of this wretched treasure is yours. Scarlett.’ Oh…”

Reaching her side, Metal stared at the inscription that just reached his eye level.Remorse, he repeated to himself silently. “I suppose this is what we are here for.”

Amy sighed. “Yeah, I guess we should do this quick,” she reached out to the box.

Metal thought about stopping her, taking her hand and pulling it away from her cursed fate, but he did not get the opportunity. Something suddenly came crashing through the rocky wall of the chamber, chunks of stone booming as they scattered to the ground.

The cavern rumbled. Amy held onto the edge of the casket for support while Metal stabilized himself and turned his vision to the crash site. The bow of a metallic ship had pushed its way through to the cavern, its steely peak unaffected by the collision. As the rubble settled and the early moonlight seeped in through cracks, Eggman strode out onto the deck with a cackle. “What do you think of my new ship?” He extended his arms proudly. “She floats and flies!”

Metal was fuming. There he was, pushing past his immense guilt and moments from fulfilling his goal, only to be interrupted by The Doctor once again. Amy could sense his anger. She quickly found her balance and lifted her hand to his shoulder, trying to give him a reassuring look. He tensed up but did not look in her direction.

When neither of them responded, Eggman continued. “Don’t you like it? I thought we’d get you a better pirate ship for your-”

“Why do you insist on interrupting me?” Metal cut in bitterly.

“Oh come now,” The Doctor continued, “We’re on the same team! You made it this far- don’t let your pride get in the way,” he warned.

As he leaned forward on the bow of the ship, H3 and H4 popped in from the crack in the wall, squeezing their small bodies through the narrow space. Everyone watched silently as they flew crookedly toward Metal. They were scuffed and scratched, one of H4’s arms missing as the socket sparked out weakly. They landed on either side of Metal, clinking their hands to their heads weakly. “Yeesh, what happened to them?” Eggman asked with a grimace.

Clearing her throat, Amy cut in. “Look, I know you wanna help, but we have this under control. So please leave before someone gets hurt!”

“What?” he chortled. “Do you still believe Metal wants to be, what was it- ‘organic’? Ha!”

“Be quiet!” Metal spat back, his voice cutting into a dissonant metallic ring. Amy drew back her hand as she recoiled from the harsh noise.

“ Oh ,” Eggman snickered at the realization that Metal was trying to protect the girl. “Very interesting! But no need to keep up the charade, just grab her along with the mirror so we can get out of here.”

Looking between Eggman and Metal, Amy took several steps away from the robot. “He’s not lying, is he...?”

Metal stared back at her blankly. She would never help him now- his self-reliant plan had no hope of succeeding. If only he hadn’t hesitated…

“Well, hasn’t this been cute?” Eggman cackled cruelly at her fear before addressing his creation once more. Lowering his brow, The Doctor’s demeanor quickly became more serious and authoritative. “Metal, you need me in order to complete your objective. Time for action!”

He was right. Finishing the mission the way Metal had envisioned was out of reach, and Amy would never trust him again. All that was left to do was complete his objective. “It will be easier if you surrender,” he threatened her, narrowing his vision.

“ Of course you were lying.” There was bitterness in Amy’s voice as they glared at one another. She was trapped and outnumbered, but she wasn’t one to go without a fight, and he knew that. She took her gaze around the room frantically, surveying her surroundings. Just as she was deciding her next move, Amy spotted something red in the corner of her eye. She quickly shot her glare back at Metal Sonic, inching away from him.

Knuckles had slipped in through a crack in the stone, quietly scaling the wall near Eggman’s ship. Amy also spotted Rouge and Tails hidden in the ship’s shadow by the cave floor. Rouge brought a finger to her lips as Amy saw her. She knew that Metal would sense her friends if she didn’t keep his attention, so she kept talking. “Why’d you teach me how to fight if you just wanted me to surrender?”

“If you think you will best me in a real fight, you are mistaken. Give up before you get hurt.”

“Hmph! You were gonna kill me anyway- or were you just gonna let the curse do the work?”

The question lacked an answer. For however determined Metal was to get ahead of Sonic, he didn’t want to have to do it at Amy’s expense... Yet there was no calculable scenario in which he would defeat his rival where she wouldn’t intervene. There was no choice but to destroy her, too- whatever he did would only delay the inevitable. “Does it matter?” He took an imposing step toward her.

Amy reached the end of the long casket, turning the corner and putting it between them so Metal faced away from Eggman- and her team. She knew it wouldn’t hold him for long. “So I guess wanting to be friends was a lie, too…” There was genuine lament in her tone, her eyes squinting back sorrowfully. Amy couldn’t believe she’d let herself become attached to Metal- and in such a short amount of time. Whatever connection she’d felt was as good as severed now.

Metal stopped his advance, standing across from her. “...I never said that.”

“You sounded pretty eager to ‘spend time together,’” she quoted him.

“I…”

A loud ZAP was heard behind Metal. He quickly whipped around to find Knuckles falling to the ground before Rouge swooped in to catch him. “Did you really think I wouldn’t put up a barrier? Come now!” The Doctor laughed as he pulled out a small remote and the invisible barrier flashed around the ship. He pressed a button that sent at least a dozen sword-wielding badniks jumping off the deck and after Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge.

In the confusion, Amy jumped up to snatch the entirety of the stone box from atop the casket. Upon pulling down the heavy container, an ivory switch came up from the casket with a distinct CLICK . The cavern immediately began to rumble, Amy attempting to circumvent the treasure-topped platform and run back toward the direction of the ship in all the chaos.

Realizing this, Metal addressed his minions. “You two block her- the box is mine .”

Amy ran, struggling to keep her balance on the shifting cavern floor. Metal quickly propelled himself after her, reaching out with a clawed hand. Thinking fast, Amy tossed the solid stone lid back at him, hitting him square in the forehead. “Augh!” he groaned as he was knocked off route. As his henchmen closed in ahead of her with arms extended, Amy charged directly at them. Just as they reached out to stop her, Amy hit the ground and slipped between them, scraping against the hard floor. H3 and H4 collided with their arms entangled as she hurried to dust herself off and continue forward.

The cave trembled as the single thin stream of magma at the far wall thickened, now forming a pool on the cavern floor as its exit overflowed. A crack near the chamber entrance also burst open, sending boiling lava spewing over the door from which they had entered. Amy pushed forward through the surrounding heat, lugging the heavy weight toward the direction of her friends- and the oncoming battalion of badniks.

But Metal was quickly upon her again, his eyes blazing with the left flickering wildly front the blow to the head. Knowing he wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice, Amy instinctively ducked as he approached her. The hefty container slid in front of her and Metal lunged for it, snatching it off the ground to remove the artifact he’d been after- But there was nothing inside except dust.

Peering back at Amy, Metal found its rocky handle in her grasp. She had picked up the Stone Mirror- a simple rounded hand mirror with a handgrip and no discernible features other than its distinctive lack of any actual reflective surface. Amy was turning it back and forth in her hands, wondering if this was really what they’d been looking for. It resembled a hand mirror in shape alone, failing to function as an actual looking glass.

Ahead of them, Amy’s friends were already taking on a troupe of robots. After giving one a swift punch to the head that knocked it clean off its body, Knuckles caught sight of Amy- and the Stone Mirror. “Amy- don’t let him get his hands on it! Destroy it!” he called back, just dodging a swing from another badnik.

Hearing this, Metal tossed the useless box aside and flung himself at Amy once more, drawing his sword. As he brought his weapon down over her, Amy held up the mirror at both ends, blocking his attack with its handle. His sword made contact, but bounced off as he hesitated at the last second. Drawing her own sword, Amy pointed it at him sharply. “I’m not going down so easy!” She lunged at him, managing to push to the side as she changed direction toward the pooling magma at the other end of the chamber.

“H3 and H4, corner her!” Metal commanded. The henchmen had just managed to detangle their limbs. H4 launched himself forward at her while H3 came up on the other side.

The heat thickened as she approached the impossibly hot lava, panting and sweating, struggling to run ahead. Metal Sonic was faster than her and closed in quickly behind. Amy could already see H3 and H4 cornering her into the far wall. Rather than wait to be trapped, Amy swung her arm and pitched the mirror fiercely toward the magma. H4, however, threw out his remaining arm, catching it before it made contact with the boiling pool. “Take it back to The Doctor,” Metal instructed him.

“Crap!” Amy cursed. She spun around and pointed, calling out to her friends. “He’s got the mirror!”

Unfortunately for the little robot, the damage he’d sustained made it impossible to fly straight, and he struggled to avoid obstacles. This made it easy for Tails to fly by, grabbing the Stone Mirror to try and pry it out of H4’s tightly clamped claws. Not having another arm to entangle the boy with, H4 swung the coil around wildly, trying to throw Tails off like a mechanical bull. Seeing this, Metal ordered H3 to help his brother and the minion quickly wobbled off.

Eggman watched in frustration as it all unfolded, most of the robots lying in a heap of scrap at the base of his ship. “This is getting boring,” he yawned, and he flipped another button on his remote that sent out another wave of badniks. “I’ve had enough of this; go after the girl! Make it quick.” He wanted to draw the others away from the ship for a quick getaway once the mirror was secured.

Knuckles groaned in annoyance at the new wave of badniks. “I’ll deal with them- help Tails grab the mirror,” he yelled to Rouge through fierce swings of his fists. She nodded and shot herself toward the battling minions.

Meanwhile, Amy was cornered- Metal Sonic ahead of her while searing magma pooled behind her. “Surrender!” Metal commanded, pointing a steely claw at her while he held his sword down by his side.

“Never!” She had no choice but to get out of the way as lava threatened to melt her boots clean off, so she lunged at Metal Sonic with her sword, putting her full force into the attack. His stance quickly changed and he blocked her attack with his sword.

Metal attempted to counter, but Amy kept after him, swinging at him so furiously that he couldn’t get an attack in. “You lied to me!” she screamed out, her eyes brimming with fury.

“Argh- I did what I had to!” he spat back, holding his weapon against hers.

She gripped her sword fiercely with both hands, pushing against him. Angry tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “I thought we had something!” she wailed. Metal’s guilt bubbled to the surface and he faltered momentarily, giving Amy a chance to push his weapon away and plunge toward him. Metal lost his grip and the sword clattered to the ground away from him.

Amy’s lunge would have impaled him through the chest if it wasn’t for the interference of one of Eggman’s badniks. The robot cut ahead of Metal, blocking her swing. As Knuckles struggled to keep them all back, four more of the rotund bots arrived, surrounding Amy and Metal. She brandished the weapon in front of her frantically, pointing it from badnik to badnik. “Rouge,” she called, “Use the sword!”

Metal’s sword had landed just below where she and Tails struggled against H3 and H4. She kicked H3 aside and shot down, seizing the sharp weapon from the cavern floor. “Tails- move!” she warned. The boy quickly propelled himself away as he saw her aiming the sword at H4’s remaining arm. Rouge flung it at the robot, slicing his hand off at the wrist, sending his clamp-like fingers falling to the ground with the Stone Mirror still in its clutches. “Hold them off!” Rouge caught it mid-flight, clamp and all, and got moving in Amy’s direction with the intention of tossing the artifact in the magma and picking her up on the way back.

“Metal,” Eggman howled from a speaker, “Stop that flying rat and retreat with the mirror at once!”

Giving her a final glare, Metal lifted off the ground. “I wish you’d given up,” he told Amy before thrusting straight up to intercept Rouge.

“Why do you care?!” Amy‘s chest heaved, her weak hand wiping the sweat from her brow as the group of badniks slowly pushed her closer and closer to the bubbling magma behind her.

Rouge wasn’t fast enough to dodge Metal Sonic. All she could do to keep the mirror out of his clutches was to hurl it in the direction of the lava pit just before he made contact with her, sending her plummeting to the cave floor- without the Stone Mirror in hand.

As if slowing time, Metal shot his gaze toward the mirror as it fell. His systems worked at lightning speed to determine its velocity and the likelihood that he could catch it before it was destroyed. Metal was tough, but not indestructible- he wouldn’t survive a plunge into the magma. But it was when he was calculating the possible outcome, already drilling his body through the air and down toward the sizzling pool, that he spotted Amy Rose cornered by badniks against boiling magma, mere feet from being pushed into it.

Suddenly, there was a second option to his trajectory. It was her or the Stone Mirror. Save Amy Rose, or be closer than he’s ever been to fulfilling the very objective to his existence. Why was it a question? So much as considering her over his purpose went against his plan, the very core of his programming; And yet, he had already decided the moment he saw her in mortal danger. Before he could comprehend why, Metal had already shifted his flight path.

Amy was panting and swaying, dizzy from the intoxicating heat of the cave. Her vision was blurry and wet with tears as she fought off the attacks from several opponents at once. If they didn’t end her, the magma would. One of the badniks lunged at her while she parried another and she was sure she wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. Just as Amy thought she would have to say a final prayer, Metal Sonic landed between her and the robot, arms outstretched to form a barrier between them.

The sword-wielding badnik stabbed its weapon forward with no time to stop before the sharp end impaled Metal through the chest. The sword cut into his turbine, causing sparks to fly out as the engine sputtered. He heard the devastating sound of the Stone Mirror falling into the magma next to them, watching it sizzle from the corner of his eye as it sunk in. There went everything he had worked towards- yet this regret was so much less than the remorse he’d felt betraying Amy.

“Metal!” Amy gasped.

“You scrap-heap!” Eggman shrieked at the badnik whose sword was stuck in Metal Sonic’s engine. “When I’m through with you-”

There was no time to finish the statement. Glowing-hot lava began to burst from cracks in all the interior walls as the cavern quaked. Gravel fell from the ceiling as the space began caving in. “Retreat at once!”

All of Eggman’s remaining robots dropped what they were doing to run, leaving Knuckles free. He spotted Rouge crawling across the ground and Tails kicking H3 away from him a final time. Knuckles ran to Rouge, supporting her as she stood. “Where’s Amy?” he asked frantically as they struggled to stay upright on the unsteady ground.

Rouge turned her head back as Tails joined them. “Oh, no…”

Metal gripped the hilt of the sword that stuck out from his chest and quickly drew it out, tossing it to the side. The increased lava flow had left them completely surrounded on a precarious island that would soon be inundated. In her surprise, Amy shook the daze from her head. The tears that had welled in her eyes overflowed as she looked up at him in shock. “You- You came back!”

“I am as surprised as you,” he said, drawing her close to him as the boiling magma rose around them. “Hold on.” Metal lifted them off the ground, faltering as he did. His engine stalled, causing him to hover up and down unexpectedly until they finally passed the pooling lava, crashing onto the cavern floor. They were past the immediate danger, but Metal could no longer fly. As Amy stood, he found that his legs had given out as well- only enough power left to operate his upper body. He ordered his minions over hurriedly. “H3, H4, I need you here.”

The little robots did their best to fly over, dodging falling pieces of the stone ceiling. Metal was taken aback by their appearance. “H4? Where’s the rest of you?” The minion shrugged with what was left of his right arm, only the long coil hanging down from its socket. Realization set in for Metal. He looked back at Amy’s panicked face. “H3 cannot carry me alone. I will have to stay. You go with him-”

“No!” Amy shook her head furiously. “You can’t!”

“My weight exceeds his capacity-” Metal tried to explain.

“Don’t be stupid!” She grabbed hold of one of Metal’s arms, dragging him across the floor at a surprising pace.

Her strength was impressive, but they would never make it out before the chamber caved in at this rate. “We are too slow! Just leave!”

“I won’t!” Amy struggled. “H3, a little help would be nice!”

He and Metal exchanged glances for a moment. Metal quickly realized the stubborn girl wouldn’t be leaving him behind. “Well, help her!” he commanded.

H3 obeyed, swiftly grabbing his master by the other arm and dragging him along. They moved at a running pace now, nearing the half-collapsed wall from which Eggman had crashed his ship.

“Amy, what are you doing?!” Knuckles called out. He’d handed Rouge over to Tails to fly out with and now ran alongside her and Metal.

“Just shut up and run!”

As they all neared the threshold and The Doctor caught sight of Metal Sonic, his ship began to back out from the wall. “Hurry!” he yelled at them as it floated back.

The ceiling was falling down behind them, burying the chamber and all its treasure under mounds of solid stone and liquid earth. The entire cavern was seconds from collapsing. Tails was the first out with Rouge in his grasp while H4 and Knuckles followed closely behind. Finally, Amy and H3 dragged Metal past the cave’s external wall as the entirety of the cavern came down behind them. Stones boomed, pounding to the floor in the direction they’d come from. The crashing stone wall rattled and broke the ground outside, lurching everyone forward and away from the entrance with a gust of wind.

It was a rough landing, but the side of the volcano they’d come out from faced the sandy beach. Knuckles groaned, spitting sand out of his mouth after landing face first. Tails came down, landing softly beside him with Rouge. He set her down on the beach and collapsed onto the soft ground, exhausted. Eggman’s steel ship floated above them as he hung over the rails looking relieved. Metal’s henchmen floated about for a moment before a faint beeping drew them away into the palm tree thicket nearby.

Amy couldn’t bring herself to sit up. She lay in the sand, sweating and heart pounding, staring straight up at the night sky as the adrenaline subsided. Metal’s half-functioning body was strewn beside her face-down. He pushed himself from the sand, flipping over to look straight up. Metal fondled the ground desperately, leaving drag marks in the sand with his sharp claws until Amy’s hand happened upon his, locking their fingers together. He relaxed, relieved to still have her by his side. It was the least he could hope for after giving up his plan to save her, he told himself- but he knew it must have been more than that. They sat in silence for just a few moments.

“... It does look a bit like a swan,” he muttered, staring into the starry sky. Cygnus was in full view over the island.

Amy couldn’t keep from snickering as he spoke, noticing the constellation suspended above them. “Guess you didn’t need to be organic to see it after all- ow! Laughing hurts...”

“Seeing as I am still mechanical, I’m afraid I cannot relate…”

She burst out in laughter, holding her ribs with her free hand. Amy’s shoulders bounced, highlighting the dull soreness in her arms from having dragged Metal’s heavy body across the collapsing cavern. “Don’t start-” she giggled. It always seemed to amuse her when he made those snide remarks.

Some yards away, Rouge sat up, holding the back of her head. “There goes my treasure… Is everyone alright?”

Tails flashed a lazy thumbs-up as Knuckles stretched beside her. “I’ll live,” he remarked gruffly. “What could those two be laughing about…?”

“Who knows?” she grumbled. “A bit cheery for a pair who just cost me my treasure.”

Quick footsteps were heard from the far side of the beach. Rouge’s crew and a set of cameramen were hastily running to meet with her. She sighed. “Back to work, I suppose.” As they stumbled near, Knuckles came to his feet and gave her a hand up. Tails dusted himself off groggily and joined them. The trio were surrounded by sailors and cameras soon enough as Rouge immediately began giving orders, playing up the authoritative remarks for the cameras.

Down the beach, Metal’s minion’s floated near him, H3 holding H1’s sparking body in his arms. Metal pushed himself to sit up, looking at the dismembered robot with remorse. “Perhaps I was a bit harsh…” He took hold of H1 as the metallic husk beeped intermittently and automatically, not appearing to be active.

Pulling herself into a sitting position, Amy groaned. “Is he gonna be okay?” she motioned to H1.

“Yes… I can repair them all. We will be fine.”

Eggman hovered down in his floating Eggmobile, coming to a landing and jumping out to address his creations. “Metal! What happened out there? Is your turbine functional?”

Metal glared at The Doctor for a moment. The lights in his left eye flickered weakly every time he moved his head. He believed he should have been furious, but he had neither the energy nor any strong feelings against his master in that moment. “No,” he responded simply.

“You sure did a number on him,” Eggman said, referring to H1 as Metal held him. “Well, we’ll get ‘em next time… Here, charge up so we can go.” A battery pack was quickly hooked up to Metal’s back, steadily providing his body with the power to operate his legs. Amy watched fondly as Eggman doted over him, a sly smile appearing on her face. The Doctor noticed her peering. “What are you looking at, you pest? You should consider yourself lucky to be alive-”

“That is enough,” Metal said plainly. “Give me a minute…”

“... Fine,” Eggman relented. “I‘ll make preparations to ‘set sail,’” he snickered, getting back into his hovercraft and floating away to the flying ship.

H3 and H4 sat in the sand by Amy and Metal, patiently waiting for him to regain his energy. As The Doctor’s attention turned away from him, Metal pulled the charging cable out from his back and connected it to H1’s body. The narrow strip of light that formed his visor powered on as Metal held him in front of his chest.

“You are quite the little spy…” Metal stared at H1 as he activated, the small robot bobbing his head around as if nervous. “... Very good work. I shall keep you around.” H1 stopped his frantic movement, tensing up for a moment before relaxing. Amy giggled as Metal set him down in the sand between them, reaching out and straightening the bandana around his neck. Metal turned to face her so their eyes met. “Thank you for bringing me with you. I am not sure my body could have been recovered from all the rubble.”

She was beaming warmly. “Well, you didn’t let me die in the end, so…” she gestured vaguely. “Call it even for now.” Amy winked.

“Hm. For what it’s worth, I was not going to permit you to sacrifice yourself. Though I cannot comprehend why…”

“Oh thanks,” Amy snickered through her sarcastic response. “Well, even though you lied… I think I believe you,” she shrugged.

Metal never felt like he needed to justify or excuse anything that he’d done in the past; He only ever did what he had to in the name of completing his objective. And though he resented losing this opportunity, the guilt he felt from lying was somehow much stronger. “Yes, well- I have never apologized for anything in my entire existence, but… I do regret that. I am sorry.”

“Really?” She ran a finger through the sand, leaving faint lines. “Ah, at least I got a sword lesson out of it ...I’ll think about forgiving you,” she responded with a coy smile. Metal Sonic was a bit of a mystery, but she could sense that he was apologetic in saving her and as he reactivated H1. She felt it was genuine, though she promised herself to keep him on his toes if they ever say one another again. “Anyway, don’t you need to charge, too?” she asked.

“There is enough for us both. In any case, I can spend a bit more time with you this way.”

She grinned playfully. “Yeah, too bad we’re in no shape for a dance lesson.”

“I suppose not... Perhaps next week, then.” He forced it out indifferently, but there was hope in his response.

It was unclear whether he was just teasing her. Amy flushed suddenly, turning her gaze away. Nothing could have been stranger than feeling this fondly toward Metal after the emotional roller coaster of the last several days, but the idea of being that close again didn’t sound so bad to her now. Only time would tell how the unusual new friendship would play out from opposite sides, but Amy was more than willing to find out. “Yeah, I guess that’ll work,” she responded finally, smiling back up at him. She couldn’t help but think that he’d be grinning back if he could.

-----

“ The treasure has been… compromised, ” Rouge explained. Footage of her on a beach played on a small hand-held tablet. She was wearing a scuffed-up navy suit but stood with confidence and authority. “ There were some… complications. It may be too dangerous to excavate. ”

B-roll of the surrounding area played as a news anchor reported the story. A dark, tropical beach with a mountain at its center. A pile of rubble surrounded by crew members as Tails pointed at and discussed various spots. Rouge storming off the beach as Knuckles followed after her angrily.

Sonic watched the morning news in awe. He’d been lounging groggily near the Master Emerald when he sat up at the appearance of his friends.

“ … and perhaps most strangely of all, the missing historical ship, the Royal Fortune, was found drifting just offshore. She appears to have sustained some damage over the week or so since she went missing. Her disappearance seems to be related to the notorious Dr. Eggman. ” As an announcer spoke, the recording showed a short clip of Metal Sonic and Amy chatting at the bow of the now-anchored ship, her leaning over a railing nonchalantly and giggling while he stood in a stately manner, his gaze fixed on her. Amy then ducked out of the shot when she spotted the camera. Metal Sonic turned to face it directly, glaring with his left eye flickering eerily. The shot quickly panned away.

“Is that…?” Sonic’s jaw dropped as he watched the clip, unable to fathom just what kind of adventure they’d ended up on. Seeing Amy lounging around with Metal Sonic on a stolen vessel was by the far the strangest, but everyone appeared to be safe and would likely be returning soon, so there was no need to worry. “Heh, can’t wait to hear about this.” Sonic went back to his leisurely position as the story ended, grinning over the unexpected footage of his friends and eagerly waiting to hear about all the fun his team was having without him. Still, he doubted it would be enough to get him tagging along on the next seafaring adventure.

-----

wow so that ended up being like twice as long as intended~ i hope yall enjoyed it. meant to have it up earlier but. that’s life.

this is of course part 2 to what i was working on for @metamy-ship-week

a very very very special thank you to @mmm-asbestos for inspiring this fic and brainstorming the story with me. i am incredibly thankful to have worked on something with someone who inspires me so much ❤ i had a great time

happy new year friends~ i hope 2021 treats you all with kindness.

#reblogs appreciated #metamy #metal sonic #amy rose #metal sonic x amy rose #sonic fanfiction #sth #MetamyShipWeek2020 #metamy ship week #pirates

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halfwayinlight · 4 years

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Series: Precious Commodities Chapter: 4. Denouement Fandom: Star Trek TNG Pairing: Will Riker/Deanna Troi Rating: PG, hints at PG13 Notes: final chapter in the fic for @nothingeverlost based on TNG season 3′s episode “Menage a Troi.”

Family is a precious commodity, and Deanna has so little of hers left. Everything—everything—in her being is screaming to fight for it. She can barely breathe as her mother is so calmly asking her to leave with Will. To let her make this sacrifice.

It’s horrifying. The only parent she has left is asking her to do this of all things. Just this once. As if leaving her mother here isn’t a life imprisoned. As though she might have some sort of future visitation rights. But she knows too well that the moment she leaves this ship, she has little hope of seeing her mother again.

And Deanna Troi has already lost all of the other biological family she has. A father. A son. There’s not enough time for any of these thoughts to process. And she’s too stunned by all of her regrets about how she has spoken to her mother over the last days. Over her exasperation with this only parent she has left, who only wanted to see her happy in the way that had most made her mother happy. As a wife. As a mother.

She could’ve—and maybe should’ve—tried to explain about her little Ian. About how much it had hurt to see him leave. About how it had been real, fully real, and she had been a mother. But now she wasn’t. And she’s had too many Troi family taken from her.

She feels like she’s on autopilot, letting herself be directed back to Will. It’s only Will’s arm on her back that feels real. That keeps her from throwing a fit. From objecting as ardently as Farek.

It’s worse that the last words she’s hearing are about oomox, and it makes her stomach turn. She expected… something. Anything else. It’s like some holonovel. Or holodeck program. Deanna turns and strains for one last… something? A moment. Another look. One more word.

There is no goodbye.

There wasn’t a goodbye with her father, either. Ian Troi had given her a hug and a kiss and said he would see her soon. She’d cried quietly and tried to be brave. When she was older, she’d wondered if it had been a premonition. But Deanna knew too well to really think such things. She had simply been a little girl who didn’t want her favorite parent to leave her.

She knew her mother had been aware that her father was her favorite. And Deanna had felt plenty of guilt about that later. There was no hiding those thoughts and feelings from a telepath as adept as Lwaxana Troi.

It takes the nudge from Farek to bring her to the moment, and she shudders away from his touch. By the time she gains the corridor, Will’s arm slides around her, putting himself between her and the Ferengi. And it’s meant to comfort her, to protect her.

William Riker is the first person to make her feel safe since her father died. She’s not naïve, though. The innocent security of her childhood is something she cannot ever regain. There’s no planet or cave or corner of a galaxy that is truly safe. Disasters happen. Loss compounds.

Imzadi, we’ll find some way, Will is urging. She can feel the concern cresting as he guides her toward the transport area. He’s unsettled at the idea of leaving her mother behind, too. But he’s also desperate to return her to the relative safety of the ship. And Will is all too aware of the toll the last, well, whatever it has been, has taken on her. It feels like months. But she’s sure it’s not been more than a day. They’re both well past exhausted. In need of food. Their bodies strained by far too long without sleep. She wants to hold his hand through the whole transport process, but it has already started and completed before that thought has time to make itself known.

The increased warmth and ambient light of the bridge should be a comfort. Will’s hand on her back urging her toward their familiar seats is a small comfort. It reminds her of her purpose, and it’s meant to do that. To pull out the last strength that she needs right now. When the captain asks them if they’re alright, she finally has the words.

It’s jarring to see her mother on the screen. In the performance of her lifetime, and there’s a moment of promise. A strategy to be leveraged, and it might not be the Queen’s Gambit, but it’s a strategy. And one that Deanna desperately hopes the captain can play out. As the Shakespeare begins, she finally relaxes into her chair. And certainty built that they were on the cusp of regaining her mother’s freedom.

There’s embarrassment when her mother makes herself at home so literally on the captain’s lap. And it is frustrating to no end that Tog is getting away with abduction. But they are off of the ship. They’re home, or at least she and Will are home. And her mother is safely on board.

It’s a relief when the captain steps to the helm to set the course for Betazed. And a reminder of the shore leave that wasn’t. Deanna can sense that they won’t have much more time than it will take to return her mother to the planet before they need to go. And she’s increasingly aware of her exhaustion. It’s terribly tempting to fall asleep in her chair.

“Ladies,” it’s Will, offering a hand and an understanding smile. Using that voice that is firm enough not to be ignored. It’s so much easier to follow his lead in this as he gives command to Data. The captain has retreated to the Ready Room, and she’s certain that the captain knows that neither of them are in any condition for bridge duty.

Even her mother grows quiet now, which is a testament to how much this has taken out of all of them. It doesn’t take long to gain Deck Eight and their quarters. It seems unnatural to part here, and for once in her life Deanna is actually glad to see Dr. Beverly Crusher waiting in her lounge to scan them for injuries. It’s an excuse to keep Will close for a little longer without having to specifically ask him to stay.

Beverly is already fussing over them before they can get through the door. If she wasn’t so tired, Deanna would find it comical as her friend tried to decide which of the three she should scan first.

“Deanna first,” Will insists, folding his arms across his chest and giving her a look as though daring her to disagree with him.

“Mother—”

“Doesn’t have a single scratch on her,” Lwaxana counters over her shoulder as she’s already moving toward the bedroom. “I’m going to make use of your sonic shower, Little One, and I’m sure between your replicator and your closet, we can find something that will be appropriate for the journey home.” It was a retreat to privacy, and the counselor in her couldn’t help but note it.

Whatever Beverly is saying is lost on Deanna because she’s finally hitting the end of her reserves. Every sense is suddenly dulled, and she can feel Beverly’s arm around her, guiding her to her sofa. She could’ve sworn the doctor was across the room moments ago. As she settles in beside Will, who wasted no time in gaining the sofa. He’s reaching for one of the trauma blankets and tucking it around her.

“Leave her lef arm free,” Beverly instructs as she finishes her scan. There’s the slight not-quite sting of a hypospray at her neck, and now the doctor is sitting beside Deanna and digging out instruments. “… dehydrated, in need of a good meal, and this arm…”

Deanna shook her head slightly and both attempts and fails at a smile. “I don’t really know what happened to it… I woke up in the brig and it was tender.”

Two sets of blue eyes are scrutinizing her, but when Beverly glances to Will for answers, he simply shrugs. “No breaks, but there’s soft tissue damage,” the doctor tuts, “tendons, ligaments, and some minor muscle tears. I’m sure it’s been bothering you.”

The comfort of the blanket and the analgesic in the hypospray is almost Deanna’s undoing. In a short time everything has upended, and now it’s all back so neatly together. Securely. Her mother spared. But it’s like mental whiplash, and the reality and certainty hasn’t caught up with her. She’s reeling, and there is nothing to distract her anymore. She doesn’t have the capacity to even cry or laugh.

“Deanna?” Will is shifting closer as Beverly continues to restore the body with her various instruments. When the doctor is finished, Will gently tucks in her mended arm and lets his finger trace her collar bone as though they had spent shore leave together. Like the last days hadn’t happened at all. Like Dr. Beverly Crusher wasn’t busy running a scan on Will. Like her mother wasn’t a room away.

The dark head shook slightly as though to throw off the tiredness that clung to them. “I’ll be fine, Will, I just need a nap,” she murmurs, feeling the ragged edges of the ordeal tugging at her. Her fingers curl into the blanket, and she pulls it a bit closer.

“You need a solid meal and naps and some full nights of sleep. And I’m not clearing either of your for duty for at least two days,” Beverly counters. “Ah, don’t you dare move that hand, Will Riker. Like you don’t have bruised knuckles. What, did you get in a bar fight?”

Deep blue eyes narrow to a glare as he glances out the port to the now-empty view. “Something like that.” Will sighs and relaxes a little deeper into the seat, his head dropping to rest against the back cushion. “I shouldn’t have sat down. It’s too comfortable.”

“Mother’s going to need something to wear,” Deanna murmurs, trying to gather some non-existent reserves and convince herself to get up and figure out what options the replicator has. But Beverly’s hand on her shoulder stops her.

“You’re going to tell me what you want to eat, and then you can nap there on your couch or go to sleep properly in your own bed.” Beverly crosses the room and when no actual order is forthcoming, she takes a minute to examine the last meals ordered and programs in something suitable.

As quiet settles over her quarters, it strikes Deanna how much she’s missed the calm. How much she craved the warmth of her cabin and its own environmental controls. Later, she’s not completely sure what she even ate. If Beverly hadn’t mentioned the hot toddy, she wouldn’t have much noticed it, either. But it’s warm and filling, and in the end she doesn’t even bring herself to use her sonic shower. Because by the time she eats, she’s doing good to make it to her own bed and curl up beside her mother, who is already in a deep meditation that will probably do her more good than sleep.

It doesn’t surprise her to find her mother asleep beside her and Will asleep on her couch when she finally wakes up six hours later. She takes a few moments to send a quick message to her own therapist. She’s going to need to debrief in a few days. No doubt there will be some reports to complete.

But for now, she allows herself the luxury of a hot bath, and both it and sleep and a meal have gone far to soothe the frazzled edges of her soul. Her lavender outfit is more appropriate to the rest of the ship’s environment, and she’s aware that her mother is awake by the time she finishes her bath.

Doesn’t that feel better, Little One? It’s a question, but it’s more of a statement. Lwaxana Troi is seated at the small table in the corner of Deanna’s lounge with a plate of barely touched oskoids and some other salad of sorts. She doesn’t blame her mother for leaving part of the Betazoid meal untouched—the replicator can’t seem to get the dish quite right.

She’s a little disappointed to see the couch is empty, save a neatly folded blanket. It makes Deanna wonder if Will moved back to his cabin to clean up, or if he got called out on some ridiculous or legitimate call. A thousand beings could certainly find a few ways to keep the First Officer on his toes. A ship’s counselor, too, for what it was worth.

“Darling?” her mother prods, drawing her attention back to the moment before taking another bite of her food.

“Much better,” Deanna finally answers with a small smile. “How are you?” She knows the questions will be brushed aside, but she also knows that she’s as good at sensing her mother’s emotions as her mother is at reading her mind. And so the question is more of an invitation or at least an acknowledgement that she’s turning her attention to her mother now.

Lwaxana’s head bobs slightly. Nothing that won’t sort itself out in a few days. A little meditation, a little of letting my mind do its healing, and I’m good as new. She finishes the last bites of the salad and took a deep drink of water before patting her mouth neatly with a napkin. “That much too serious fellow that runs the transporter called a little while ago to say we’ve entered orbit around Betazed. Now you and Will must beam down with me and enjoy a little holiday. You both could use it so badly, and no doubt that doctor, too. I can think of a few friends I’d like to introduce her to. You remember Xander—”

Her head shakes slightly, though she offers up a small smile at the thought. She really does wish she and Will had time for such things. “It’s Chief O’Brien. And that window of opportunity for shore leave is closed, mother. Unfortunately, we have other obligations with the crew.”

“But surely the Captain can see you both need this holiday!”

“Mother,” she crosses the space between them and places a gentle hand on her mother’s forearm. “I miss the Fifth House, but it will have to wait until the next time we are in the system. We’re both sorry things turned out as they did, but next time I will come to visit you.”

Lwaxana’s smile emerged at those works, and she enfolds her daughter’s hand in both of hers. “You’ll stay at the Fifth House with me next time?”

“I promise,” she assures.

“And you’ll bring William with you?” she presses, eyebrows raising.

Deanna’s head cants slightly as she considers it. “That’s going to be up to Will. If he wants to come along, that’s his choice. I’m not promising for him.” She is absolutely on to her mother’s game, but she isn’t going to put Will in a position where he can’t make his own choices. “And maybe I can convince Beverly to join us as a guest, too. But I think she’d enjoy getting to know Darius far more than Xander’s company.”

Her mother’s sly grin tells her that she’s found the right compromise. “And you must invite Jean—”

“No, mother,” Deanna counters firmly. “The Captain has his own holidays. That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“But you ought to ask. He shouldn’t be excluded simply for being the highest officers on the ship.”

She shakes her head again and gives her mother’s hand a squeeze for emphasis. “Mother, you aren’t really interested in him.” Of this she is fairly certain. Her mother can be capricious, but Deanna remains hopeful that she is right in this. Or she hopes she can maintain self-delusion if she’s wrong.

“Humans are so easily ruffled, especially the men,” she pouts. “Spending so much time around them is making you downright prudish… Oh, let’s not argue about it. Especially not when that ruffled fellow is going to call back any moment now.” She huffs slightly. “I don’t suppose I could convince the Captain that I have a pressing diplomatic mission to… where were you heading?”

Deanna shrugs, but she can’t help the indulgent smile. “I suppose that would be stretching it, even for you. Come on, I’ll walk you to the transport room.” She offers her arm and is warmed when, instead of taking it, her mother draws her into a hug.

“So like your father, he did his best to indulge me, too.” Lwaxana cups her daughter’s face and presses a kiss to her forehead just as she did when sending a young Deanna to bed as a child. This time she doesn’t chafe at the affection like she did days ago. “He would be so proud of you.”

“He would’ve been proud to see how you handled the Ferengi,” Deanna answers. Her smile is warm but watery, and Deanna takes her mother’s hand and doesn’t mind the usual parting chatting all the way from her quarters to the last moments before transport.

Lwaxana wraps her arms around her daughter and indulges in one more a kiss to both cheeks. “Promise me you’ll send word soon on subspace?”

“I promise,” Deanna agrees with a smile, particularly amused as O’Brien is increasing preoccupied and fascinated with the console in front of him.

Her mother steps onto the transport platform. “And give it some thought. Maybe you can convince the captain to circle back on the next mission. There are always plenty of spare rooms for all the guest.”

“I’ll put in a good word,” she chuckles, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. After everything, she is simply grateful her mother is back to her old self.

“I may be old, but I know how to capitalize on a good thing when I see it. Just remember that William is more than welcome—” Whatever else she was hoping to add, Lwaxana has de-materialized and is on her way back to Betazed.

Deanna carefully avoided eye contact with their transport chief, but she gives a nod when he mentioned that the captain was requesting her presence on the bridge. Apparently catching up on more sleep will have to wait. Her nap has helped tremendously, though she’s aware it will take at least a few more days to pay back some of her sleep debt. Beverly wasn’t wrong to say they were in need of sleep. Hopefully the doctor will forgive her visit to the bridge in the name of following orders.

The familiar scents and slightly-dry air of Enterprise are soothing. The turbo lift is familiar, and she can feel herself easing back into routine as though the last days hadn’t happened. Eventually she will take some time to process everything. But for now, even a short shift on the bridge is welcoming.

If it was worth summoning her, she is sure Will would be there, too. With any luck, it won’t be anything too out of the ordinary. Maybe they would even have time to grab another meal in Ten Forward and start their plans for Angel Falls. The emotion is elusive, and she nearly gains the bridge when she realizes that she is actually missing Will. It’s almost laughable. They often have split shifts and don’t see each other for half a day or more.

She isn’t going to think about what it meant right now. Or how when she emerges from the turbo lift, he twists in his seat and looks as glad to see her as she is to see him. Or that when his eyes meet hers, there is something like emotional resonance between them. This bond they still share. Missing each other. A small joy at this reunion. Lingering tiredness. And a refocus on the next mission. There will be time to sort it all out later.

#verse: precious commodities #imzadi #otp: imzadi #deanna troi #will riker #counselor troi #commander riker #lwaxana troi #will riker x deanna troi #i can't even with these two #these two idiots #my messed up space cinnamon roll nuggets

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makorays · 5 years

Text

A List of Short Bios for a Bunch of OCs so People Actually Know What I’m Talking About Whenever I Mention Them on Streams or Whatever

These are all from the Savage Worlds tabletop campaign known as The Initiative that my friends and I play. It is a modern day sci-fi story involving aliens and cosmic horror cults. The basic premise is that some very important Scellor tech was stolen and found its way to Earth, and the Scellor government contacted Earth’s government to warn them they will have to wipe out their planet if the tech isn’t recovered in time. Thus an initiative was formed consisting of renowned Earth military figures as well as Scellor volunteers to try and locate it.

The Scellor are a race of aliens originally created by a man by the name of Jukashi for tgchan. Joe discovered them and decided to write a tabletop story in that universe. He may have taken a couple artistic liberties here and there for the sake of better fitting things into his own story. Scellor are green psychic aliens with a whole bunch of neat traits I won’t go into but you can read about them here if you want: https://questden.org/wiki/Scellor

Onto the actual bios:

Sofie Edelstein

The commander of The Initiative. Over a century ago, her father revealed to her and her two sisters (Teri and Tara) that he was the head of an “angel”-worshipping cult known as Erleuchten. When Teri and Tara showed hesitance in joining it, her father killed them. Sofie joined, but plotted to sabotage the cult from the inside. Some time later she became a preserved brain, got digitized, and obtained a robotic body. Now she’s a 6′ tall 400 pound robot with advanced combat capabilities. She created a series of androids with artificial intelligence based after her late sister Tara, but none have gained sentience. Was the leader of Poland’s military as a day job. She was working for The Initiative from the inside as an Erleuchten leader, but got found out and now lives with us. She’s done a hell of a lot of sleeping around through all her years, but eventually decided to get into a long-term relationship when she met Stan.

Minyaxl

My OC. Minyaxl is a Scellor combat medic with renowned psionic healing abilities who decided to volunteer and help out the humans, partially out of kindness and partially to have a chance to demonstrate his abilities to a less advanced race. He started out as this 5′0″ little bitch who was super full of himself but his confidence has been beaten into the dirt on numerous occasions; most notably when he realized that humans, unlike Scellor, do not reincarnate after death, meaning he’s been sentencing people to oblivion during every combat mission. He’s since become desperately obsessed with saving as many lives of sentient, non-reincarnating beings like humans as possible, even if it means jeopardizing operations. He routinely finds himself at odds with his squadmates, particularly Valerie, due to their perceived lack of interest in non-lethal solutions to problems. He is the closest Scellor can get to typical human romance with Thael.

Katherine Dawson

Cey’s OC. Katie is a combat medic who was taken as a POW by a terrorist group and later forcibly enlisted into The Initiative for her abilities. She’s sort of the mom of the group. Everyone else in arbiter squad has some form of extra-ness to them and she’s the straight-woman who holds them together. She has a knack for bossing around idiots due to her upbringing with rambunctious siblings in a Japanese-American household. Dual wields pistols and does not take shit from people. Is girlfriends with Teri.

Johannes B. Otto

Kyle’s OC. It's sometimes easy to mistake Johannes for a confused German tourist. During quiet hours, he spends his time complaining about No Smoking signs and combining multiple quarter-pound patties into single full-pound burgers. But get in his way and you'll find that he's less "tired, goofy dad" and more "towering, ruthless brute". Withhold information during an interrogation, and he'll start calmly searching for a pair of pliers. Try to hurt him or his squadmates, and he'll shut you in a storage locker with a live grenade and then feel zero remorse for the gory soup that spills out (a tactic that has since been affectionately referred to as the "Deutsche Oven"). It should also be noted that Johannes is not a patient man. If we’re ever at a standstill with deciding how to proceed, he’ll start jumping a fence to go beat the shit out of a guard before taking all his clothes and spanking him until his ass is red.

Valerie Mimieux

Ragu’s OC. Valerie is a woman of class. She’s a French spy who likes expensive things and is passionate about cooking. She has a habit of flying way off the fucking handle and doing some reckless impulsive shit or just generally acting like a psycho. Will sometimes single out a particular enemy that did something to piss her off and then beat the hell out of their corpse long after they’re dead. She has raced Yakuza gang leaders for the right to win their car and then nonchalantly gunned them down when they decided to get revenge. She somehow manages to slither her way into acquiring ludicrous amounts of currency during her operations, and wants to one day take over all of Europe. Has a pet german shephard named Steve who used to be a guard dog for the enemy until she offered him a treat. She is alien-gay for Adiira.

Fayaiy

Selena’s OC. Fayaiy is a bounty hunter who crash landed on Earth and temporarily joined the cause before disappearing off to who knows where. She’s super goofy and sort of comes off as a happy-go-lucky foreigner who doesn’t entirely grasp English but loves to vibe with everyone regardless. LOVES Family Guy, thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. On multiple occasions she got faced on weed in the men’s bathroom with Stan, who I’m pretty sure still assumes she’s a trans guy because she didn’t seem to understand human gender symbols on doors. Has a pet black cat named Peanut who she took with her when she left.

Teri Grimm

A state of the art android who is so human-like you wouldn’t even know her body’s innards were synthetic unless you looked at them under a microscope. The commander’s first creation to gain sentience, and The Initiative’s token robot hacker waifu. Everybody loves Teri. She’s polite, incredibly intelligent, and has a face you just really want to protect, although she can hold her own in battles with superhuman strength. She’s rather unlucky though. Is girlfriends with Katie.

We’re actually currently playing a reboot of The Initiative. The first go around happened a few years ago, didn’t last as long, and featured the following five characters as our player characters. They did not function very well as main characters but work quite well this time around as quirky side characters.

Stan Ward

Ragu’s old OC. Stan is one of the most extra people to ever exist, roughly tied with only Bruce and Vulohon. A true American, he’s a mad bastard of a soldier who loves drugs and driving, often at the same time. Once, several members of The Initiative went out to town to relax and have fun, and he almost immediately got into trouble with the police, being chased off into the night. He came back later after swimming his way back to the base, crabs stuck to various parts of his soaking body with their pinched claws. Was somehow man enough to satisfy a 6 foot tall 400 pound 160+ year old android’s sexual desires to the point that he became her boyfriend.

Bruce Reistill

Kyle’s old OC. Bruce is an abrasive asshole who will never ever let a villain get more than 5 words into their monologue before interrupting them with something along the lines of “now y’see here I think the problem we’re having is that you keep on talking when you really shouldn’t be so I think it’d really be in all of our best interests if I were to just go ahead and...” before drawing his revolver that he nicknamed Banger.

Vulohon

The old OC of Roll, our long lost friend who just sorta disappeared to do his own thing in life. Vulohon is a fucking dumbass. He’s basically if Knuckles from Sonic Boom was an edgy anime himbo. The first time we saw him, he was doing the cool guy thing where you lean back in your chair and sharpen a blade. The second time we saw him, he was doing the same thing, but this time was sharpening a glock. The third time it was a trash can. He owns a legendary energy battle axe and can use psionic energy to generate explosions wherever he wants, but almost all of his fighting tactics involving picking up dudes and throwing them at other dudes. Either that or ripping off car doors and swinging them at people.

Stan, Bruce and Vulohon are all best bros. They moved their beds into the rec room and turned it into the Boys Room, where they sit in the hot tub together and behave heterosexually.

Thael

My old OC. Thael is a scientist who has no personality or emotions, but a really great ass. He’s a husk of a formerly optimistic young student who lost the ability to feel things after a shady government organization recruited him and forced him to conduct awful, sometimes murderous experiments on unwilling Scellor. Everyone is creeped out by him, but Minyaxl’s virgin horniness was enough to push past that as he felt love at first sight (with Thael’s back turned to him) and pursued relations with him. Thael opened up to him and Minyaxl decided to do his best to help him regain his former self. He’s getting there.

Pamiil

Selena’s old OC. Pamiil is an optimistic pacifist healer who never really got all that much screen time but she is cute and must be protected. She loves* Setel.

*by which i again mean the closest scellor equivalent to love which i guess is sorta just close friendship where you also fuck but they’re also capable of feeling proper love it’s just weird and can lead to psionic feedback loops if they’re not careful

(the following 5 pics were drawn by selena)

https://butamakingart.tumblr.com/

Orvon Valasma

The captain of the ship that a mysterious third party (referred to as the Scellor Freelancers, consisting of her, Adiira and Setel) arrived on. She’s 7 feet tall and has robotic legs that can extend to make herself even taller and run super fast. Somewhat stoic, and has gotten into fights with Adiira, but still cares deeply for her friends. The freelancers were originally at odds with The Initiative as they (somewhat rightfully) believed that we were doing a sloppy as hell job of things, but they eventually decided to join forces.

Adiira M’vora

A deadly assassin who, due to being born in the Ayaar caste, was forced to carry out political assassinations against people the Scellor government suspected of being potential state enemies. It got to her so she went rogue and is a bit of a wreck. She owns a legendary sword called Blue Midnight that can cut through the very fabric of space, and has various other psionic space manipulation abilities. She is human-gay for Valerie.

Setel Tunsai

An absolute chad of a man, standing at a towering 5′0″ (which is stupidly tall for his Orthan caste). Setel is a powerful psionic who excels at manipulating social outcomes, either through exceptional diplomacy or good old fashioned mind control. He has a talent for helping people with their emotional problems, and has acted as a therapist for people like Adiira and Thael. He is beloved by all. Is small lovefriend of Pamiil.

Korhan

Horrible. Piece of shit bitch bastard. Rightfully dead. Korhan used his position as an Ayaar operative as an excuse to live out all his sadistic fantasies. Worked in the evil-ass facility that used people like Thael to carry out their horrible experiments, and made implied rape threats to Thael if he thought about not doing his job. Responsible for everything that’s wrong with Djylana. Planted a tracking device on Minyaxl to find the location of The Initiative’s base, then came in and slaughtered innocent people for the fun of it before taking a bunch of hostages. He used them to try and make us hand over Adiira and Thael for betraying their government but we managed to clutch things out and put him in the dirt. Also he could stop time. Was basically Dio.

Djylana

Korhan’s partner in crime. A bloodthirsty animal he used to carry out much of his dirty work. After she was killed, while Korhan was lying on the ground just before Thael unloaded two magazines into him to finish him off, he said that she was his finest work, that we would never be able to truly stop her, that she would not rest until every single one of us was murdered. He had installed something called Echotech into her, allowing her soul to stay attached to her body after its death. She got up and started freaking out because her only “friend” had been killed, ready to kill us all, when MVP Fayaiy came in with the hug and helped us manage to convince her that Korhan was a piece of shit and we could be actual friends to her. She came around, like an abused guard dog finding a compassionate master, and now lives in the base as a decaying zombie. We convinced the commander to let her in despite her crimes and to also eventually make a robot body for her. She was unsure if she wanted to let us do that until someone brought up the fact that it would be the biggest middle finger we could possibly give to Korhan, at which point she vehemently agreed. I hope his piss stain of a soul somehow knows that his ace in the hole was defeated by the power of friendship.

Satan.

There are other characters that I may or may not include in the future, but those are the most prominent ones.

#the initiative #scellor

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another-sonic-blog · 5 years

Note

Some Silvamy? I dont see much of it :p

Star-Crossed

It was very unusual for the Resistance to have gatherings such as a ‘party’. However, this was the last time they were probably going to see each other. Eggman was defeated, Sonic the Hedgehog had embarked on a new adventure and the Restauration had just begun. It was the first time Silver had ever been invited to a party less been to one. He was really excited to greet and give thanks to everyone on the resistance. As he entered the ballroom he saw old and new faces. Everyone greeted him and he awkwardly smiled. He really wasn’t used to be called a ‘hero’ nor being compared to the legends he would hear as a kid, like Sonic or Shadow the Hedgehog. He was extremely honored and happy to be able to call them ‘friends’. Or at least Sonic. She walked some more until he noticed Amy Rose standing next to Knuckles as he grabbed Rouge by her waist. He went in closer to make his presence noticeable. The trio looked at him and smiled.

“Hey Silver, glad you decided to come,” Amy said as she smiled to him. Silver had to admit that Amy was looking more pleasant to his eyes than usual. He had to admit that he was also way more clumsy around her than usual. It was weird for him and he was still trying to figure out the reason why. So far, he had come to the theory that he indeed might have a small, tiny, crush on-

“Oh, Amy, have you seen Shadow?”, Knuckles asked the pink hedgehog as he noticed that the white one wasn’t responding to Amy’s comment.

“Oh, you know he ain’t one for parties. He is probably out there maintaining his motorcycle or something.” Amy took a sip of her soda, she wasn’t angry at the black blur. At the end of the end, she was used to this kind of situation and she didn’t want Shadow to feel uncomfortable either.

“Seems like good old Shadow to me.” Silver responded and then everyone let out a small laugh.

“ITS TIME FOR A GAME!”

“A game?”, Rouge said questioning the red fox who stood in the middle.

“Yes, basically we pick two people and they have to say a number between one and three. If they both say the same number at the same time they have to kiss!” Nobody wanted to admit it but they all were lowkey excited about the outcome of the game. Possibly some ships could come out of tonight.

“What’s the name of this game?” Rouge said as she sat down on the chair next to Knuckles who followed her.

“I don’t remember, I was too drunk the first time I played it.”

Silver then felt a pair of hands move him to the chair next to Knuckles. Amy was standing right behind him, still not wanting to participate in the ‘123 Game’ as she mentally called it. She was just a viewer, happy to see that maybe Silver would be the one to find some type of love tonight. And so that happened, the guest would choose random people or people who low key wanted to pair with. Some kiss some didn’t, and then it was Silver’s turn. Everyone was ready to see who would be the lucky one to kiss the White Prince.

“Well, well, Silver…who would be the lucky one?… Oh, what about miss Amy?”

The entire room went with an ‘OooooOoooOO’ as Silver blushed and Amy denied with her head.

“Oh, come on Amy. Have some fun!” Rouge said she tapped on her shoulder teasing her.

“But what if we do end up kissing?” Amy said still denying it. Rouge slowly got closer to her ear and whispered. “Don’t worry Knuckles and I have it all planned. He is telling Silver to say number 1 and you will say number 3…just don’t look like a coward in front of everyone.”

Amy sighed in relief and smiled at her. “All right! Silver, let’s do this!”

“Yeah!”, He said confidently as well after hearing Knuckles’ smart plan. “OK, READY, SET, GO!”

“3!”

They both turned around to face their blushing faces and then once again their two friends who betrayed them. Or at least it looked like it because Knuckles had received a punch on his head from Rouge. The room once again was filled with people screaming but this time the word 'Kiss! Kiss!’ was more prominent. Making the two feel completely under pressure.

“Hahaha no, I can’t do it…I mean its Amy! She’s not it!” Silver said nervously as he heard the crows said 'Kiss’ louder and louder.

“What do you mean by like that?” Amy said a bit offended and SIlver noticed this.

“No, what I mean its that- uh-its its wrong cause you are you!”

“What? are you saying you won’t kiss me because it’s me?”

“Yes!”

“Well, I am sorry I am not a model-looking hedgehog!” Amy turned her back on him and Silver panicked even more.

“No! That’s not what I meant! Like Shadow would kill me if-”

But Amy wasn’t listening at this point. Her feelings were hurt and once she was like this there was no point on making her go back to logic. Silver sighed and rushed towards her, still not believing he actually had the guts to do what he was about to do. He grabbed her by her shoulder and made her face him. And on an instant, their lips were touching. Amy had her eyes opened and Silver’s were closed. Trying his best to hide the fact that he had never kissed before. It was simple. No tongue, and no intentions of going further. Just lips touching. After a few seconds, Silver parted ways and instead of expecting, clapping or the typical 'Oooo’, he found silence.

And he sounds found out the reason why as well.

Shadow the Hedgehog had entered the room, looking at the two with uninterested eyes. He was leaning on the edge of the entrance door, one leg touching the wall and the other touching the ground. Hands folded and he was just looking, and suddenly the room was empty.

Everyone knew that Shadow had his range moments. And nobody dare to imagine how would he react if anyone dares to even think of touching Amy Rose.

“Seems like the party is over.” Shadow then just walked away. Everything happened so fast that Amy didn’t process still the fact that that happened. When she realized, however, she walked towards the door but Silver stopped her midway.

“I’ll talk to him.”

...

Silver found Shadow training. Well, more like just kicking a tree. His faced looked calm. He wasn’t completely kicking the tree either. He would kick and punch just right next to it. As if the tree was a person he didn’t want to hurt.

“Hey, Shadow”, Silver said shyly and Shadow just bothered to give him three seconds of his attention to go back to training.

“So, what happened earlier. Please don’t be angry at Amy, it was me who did it and-”

“I am not angry at her, nor at you,” Shadow said as he stopped to finally take a rest. “Well, maybe at you…just a little.”

“If you want to kill me. Do it fast please.” Silver closed his eyes ready for Shadow to lay a punch on his face.

But that never happened.

“To be honest with you…I am angry that you never told Amy how you felt about her.”

“What?” Silver said as he popped opened his eyes. Shadow took a sighed and continued.

“You stopped yourself from telling her about your feelings when I told you I loved her…and I knew you would.”

Shadow had a disappointed look. Nonetheless, he didn’t seem to regret anything at all. “Sometimes I wonder if Amy could be better off with you. Once, I wanted to let her go and see if she would go to you but…I found myself incapable to do so. And so I wonder…If you had confessed, would she be happier?”

“So right now, when you saw us…you were regretting your decision?” Silver said as he walked closer to the black hedgehog.

“I don’t regret dating Amy…I regret not giving you the chance to confess…I would have saved myself a lot of self-doubts…” Shadow looked at the white hedgehog as he took a sit on the grass next to him. Shadow turned his head and whispered as low as he could. “And of course…I hate feeling like I betrayed a friend.”

Silver looked at him surprised and although he couldn’t see Shadow’s face, he knew that at the moment he was blushing at his own comment. The comment that was heard loud and clear by Silver.

“You know…I don’t think you are a bad person for expressing your feelings to Amy even if you knew how I felt. It takes a lot of courage to do that, especially for someone like you. I think you did the right thing because I had never seen Amy as happy as when she’s with you.”

Shadow was baffle by Silver. He could see now why a lot of people liked him. He was a pure-hearted boy who put others before himself. Who cared deeply for people and for all life. Shadow didn’t want to admit it, but this young boy had gotten all of his respect now and always.

“But what about you? Don’t you ever think about the possibilities? That may be Amy could be with you if you had confessed before me?”

“For me, Amy is someone who I admired deeply. She’s probably the nicest person I have ever met and to me, she’s…like a hero. I do have a crush on her…like a big crush. I don’t think it has developed more than that.” Silver said convincingly enough.

“…You are going back to the future soon, aren’t you? I think she should know about it before you leave.” Shadow advised him.

“No, hehe, I don’t think I can, haha.”

“Well, there’s no need. I think she already knows.”

They seriously need to stop doing that. Maybe it was a couple thing, to appeared in the wrong time and at the last minute.

But there she was, Amy Rose, standing behind Silver.

At first, everything was blushing and awkward moment between the three. But soon, it was small laughs and jokes between each other. And the day continued just like that.

Between laughs, Silver took a moment to appreciate the two lovers in front of him. There was no doubt that they were made for each other. Their contrasting personalities mixed perfectly, the way Shadow would look out for Amy’s hands unconsciously in order to feel her warmness. Amy’s subtle flirting that made Shadow crazy.

And Silver too. It wasn’t just a crush. It wasn’t just him being a fanboy for her.

He was in love with her. He knew it deep down that he was jealous of Shadow. He was the one regretting never having the guts to tell her how he truly feels like Shadow did. That’s how he knew that he shouldn’t get involved. Shadow was the best one for Amy because Shadow was able to do the things Silver never would.

And so that’s how the story ended. With a bittersweet ending, with two star-crossed lovers and one that just happy watching them dance in the dark sky.

.....

A/N: I hope this satisfies your taste. Some SilvAmy for the masses never hurt I also posted this as ShadAmy because well, it has a lot of it!

#silvamy #shadow the hedgehog #silver #shadamy #silver the hedgehog #Amy Rose #Amy the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #sonic forces #romance #sonic fanfiction #fanfic #shadow x amy #shadowxamy #shadow and amy #amyrose #silverxamy

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jammerlee · 5 years

Note

With all the drama over Penders with Sally and Geoffrey, how do you feel about a popular ship like Knuxouge where one is 18 and the other is 16?

Right. Since @nuttyrabbit and @robotnik-mun already answered this question, my response is largely going to end of mirroring what they said as I’m in agreement with both of them.

These things, they are not comparable. There is a difference between canon material marketed toward children, and fandom material created by fans. Canon material is, well, canon. Regardless of headcanon and personal tastes, the canon is law to the actual, true, events. Knuxouge was only teased at and never went anywhere - Geoffsal was pushed as part of a canon live triangle and Penders has gone on record stating that had he the clearance to do so, he would have made a statutory rape canon. In a comic book intentionally marketed toward children. In contrast, fandom material - you have to look for that. And if you find something you don’t like, you can blacklist it. There are ships that I have blacklisted because I don’t want to look at them - I can’t blacklist the canon without boycotting the material altogether.

Further, as R-Mun stated, there is a huge difference between a two year gap and a five year gap when we’re speaking in regards to a minor. You could argue the power dynamic, but this is never seen between Knuckles and Rouge and both are shown to have their own agency, whereas Geoff very clearly thinks of Sally and the other Freedom Fighters as children. He viewed Sally as a child and still pursued her. Further, the way she was treated between Sonic and Geoff, and the way Penders chose his words, Sally was a conquest. A prize to be won. She had no agency.

There is also little correlation between most Sonic character’s canon ages and how they behave and other various factors. Rouge, for example, I see as being somewhere in her mid-20′s, at least, because I absolutely DO NOT buy that she’s an accomplished master thief and government spy at only 18 fuckin years old. Likewise, I don’t think Knuckles even knows his own age due to the circumstances he grew up in and would probably pull a random number out of his butt if he was put on the spot. The practice of aging characters up is completely valid.

Penders, by contrast, DOES view Sally as a child. He refers to her as 16 (even tho she was actually 15) and compares her to a high schooler. I’ve mentioned before on my blog and even to him directly - he had it within his power to either retcon Sally’s age and make her older, or set Geoff’s age as younger. He made the conscious choice not to and paired a character he has admitted he views as a child with a character he compares to a college student.

These things, they are not comparable.

#Ken Penders #Ken Penders is a Douche #Knuckles the Echidna #Rouge the Bat #Anonymous #Sally Acorn #Destroy Purity Culture

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jolienjoyswriting · 5 years

Text

Sonic - Random Encounters, Ch. 5-B

An alternate take on Chapter 5 of "Random Encounters," a Sonic the Hedgehog fan fiction story.

This extra chapter is what you get when you end up shipping two characters together during the writing process, but have no idea what to do with them, so you let things go wildly off-the-rails. That being said, it's very non-canon and, honestly, kind of trash. The actual "ship fic" I wrote, later on, is much less trash. (:

Word count: 6,453 – Character count: 37,169 Originally written: August 23rd, 2018

Following an eventful night, David finds himself joined by some very friendly company.

"Sonic the Hedgehog" and related characters and concepts created by Yuji Naka and © Sega Games Co, Ltd. Ruby Moon the Rabbit and "Coloris the Coloris" created by and © RubySp00n

[ ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → ]

Daylight was shining through the broken part of David’s blinds and into his apartment, the morning that followed. And, as if to spite him, it was hitting him right in the face. He gave a little grumble, feeling stiff and irritable… Had he even slept? He had no idea… but, he intended to try again, whether the sun wanted him to or not. The floor was cold… but, the comforter was warm. Soft, too… And… wait. Why was it moving? Or… breathing…?

He tensed up, suddenly remembering how the previous night had ended. A peek under the covers confirmed what he thought he was feeling: Coloris was hugging him around the waist and sleeping soundly, her front pressed to his back. Her legs were also hugging his tail, which was snug against her own back. He didn’t remember doing that… But, before he could take a second to figure out how it had happened… he noticed something else – something to his front.

A glance down made him uncomfortably nervous. He wasn’t sure of when, much less how… or, why… but, there was a person wrapped in his own arms, that morning, hugging a pillow and sleeping soundly with their back to him. Even with the big, cream-colored ears a plush, red hair blocking his view… he knew it could only be one person… Ruby…?!

That morning… was filled with questions, for David. He knew Coloris had slipped under his comforter the previous night and hugged into him… he had some vague memory of her pulling his tail around her… and, he even remembered finally nodding off, after staying tense for what seemed like hours. But… he could not, for the life of him, remember Ruby joining them, much less come up with a reason as to why she was pressed against him instead of the other girl.

It was every guy’s dream. But, for some reason… he just wanted to…

“Wake up.” To the raccoon’s surprise, the girl at his back stirred and slid back. He could almost hear her blinking at him… before she snuggled close and happily murmured. “Nn… Fibe more minglends…” Too bad that the person he was actually talking to was being a little less cooperative. “Ruberry’s not a morning person,” the pixel-cat said after a cute little yawn. “‘morning, by the way!” “Uh…” “I’m not much for mornings, either… I like to spend all morning cuddled up in aaall the blankets! A nice, fluffy tail works, too!” David shivered as he felt a hand run over his. “But… gosh, I slept so good…! Thanks, for letting me sleep with you, Mr. David.”

It was an odd situation, having one girl invade his personal space while the other kept his arms hostage. He shouldn’t have felt tense… It really was a dream come true in a lot of ways! They were both so soft – especially Ruby – and warm enough to relax even the tensest of people. But… given that one of them was an egotistical, temperamental girl and the other was a kid with a death-touch… he just couldn’t let himself enjoy it. Still… he knew he’d curse himself out, later, for what he was about to do…

“C’mon,” he said, giving Ruby a nudge. “Up.” “Hrrn…” She squirmed and wriggled before rolling out of his arms and stole the entire comforter before curling into a blanket-ball… seemingly, on-purpose! Unfortunately… “O-oh…! G-gosh…” That had an effect on the other girl, too.

“I-it’s so chilly this morning, Mr. David!” Coloris noted, tightening her grip and squeezing herself closer. “Wish I had soft, snuggly fur and a fluffy tail to keep me warm!” That’s what she thought. But, honestly… “Wait. You’re… You are cold, aren’t you?” He was. Granted, he’d been too busy amusing himself by poking at the bunny-cocoon – which made funny, growling noises, every time he did – but… as he lay there… he was shivering. “I don’t think Big Sis is gonna be up, anytime soon.” The other girl hummed before casually suggesting, “Wanna cuddle in bed?” A bright blush crept up under David’s white facial fur. For a moment, he considered giving Coloris a straight answer of “No.” But… between the chill that was starting to set in and the fact that Ruby just plain would not cooperate… he was starting to reevaluate his position.

“Mr. David?” The cat-girl gave another blink as she watched David roll over. A moment later, she brightly smiled and pulled him inward, happily returning the tight, loving hug he’d given her. “S… sorry…” he nervously whispered. “Cold…” “You sure are!” she giggled. “Poor baby… Let’s get you under some nice, warm covers!”

With some difficulty, the two had gotten up and made their way to the couch-bed, early that morning. David sat at the edge and kicked off his shoes while Coloris gently removed her knee-length boots and set them aside. When the raccoon tugged at the fingers, he noticed her start to do the same… which sent a shiver down his spine. “What?” she asked, quickly taking note. She was giving him a curious smile. “Gloves?” he asked in return. “What about them?” she giggled as she removed the one. “Uhm…” At least, she’d tried to. To her surprise, she found that hand captured by his own bare hand, fingers sliding between hers as he pressed down.

“How come we’re holding hands, Mr. David?” she asked with that same smile. “Not that I mind… I like you, too!” “Uh…” He really had made things weird, he realized. Really, it was kind of a knee-jerk reaction and an attempt to keep her glove on… He briefly considered the possibility that doing what he had could have killed him… but, as he sat there holding her hand… he remembered another part of what Ruby had told him. ‘Her arm-sleeve…’ And, he let go.

“You’re so silly, Mr. David…” she told him as she brought her hands up and started removing her glove, again. “But, I like you.” He offered an uneasy grin, feeling a little stupid for what he’d done. Without another word, he slipped his other glove off and watched her do the same. Before long, all she had on her arms were a pair of light-grey arm-sleeves which went from her fingers to her elbows. If his mind hadn’t been elsewhere, he might have found them kind of cute. But, as she wiggled backward onto the bed and reached for the comforter, he found himself wondering… Her bare touch… Yeah… her bare touch was deadly… and, despite the fact she was wearing only the smallest amount of fabric over her hands… she didn’t seem to be doing any harm to the bedspread. But, for some reason… that made David curious… “M… Mr. David…?” More curious that he should have been.

Before she could slip under the covers, David had gotten her attention. When she turned around to face him, he held his hands out for her, fingers pointed her way and palms facing up. He maintained a cool, somewhat-aloof expression as he watched and waited for her to act. “Are we playing more hand games, Mr. David?” she asked, tilting her head. A second later, her face lit up with a bright smile. “Oh, I know!” And, without any warning at all… she slapped her hands into his. “Pattycake!”

David was the one to blink, then, as Coloris manipulated and guided his hands in a rhythmic pattern, slapping palms, bumping backs, nudging knuckles, and even touching finger-tips, on occasion. All-the-while, the raccoon stayed tense, wondering why nothing seemed to be happening. Another thought occurred, then…

“M… Mr. David…?” He pulled his hands away… only to hold them up for her, palms facing forward. Coloris seemed confused… until she smiled and swung her hands at his. “High-five!” But, that wasn’t his intention… which she realized shortly after he pulled away.

“Too slow…?” she asked, her smile becoming a little less confident. He brought his hands back, holding them up a second time. “Hands,” he told her… which, thanks to a spike of nervousness, sounded less like a request… and, more like an order. “H… hands…?” Unsure of what he wanted, she brought her own covered hands up, holding them parallel to his. She didn’t dare try and high-five him, again… “Mr… David?” she nervously laughed. “What’s… this game? Oh, I know!” Suddenly… she grabbed his hands, fingers locking between his, and gave a squeeze! “Hand-hold!” she told the raccoon. And… that was the last thing he remembered hearing. “Mr… David…?”

And, that was the first thing he’d heard after everything went black. He was pretty sure he’d died… if not from her action, then by a heart attack. But, as his eyes fluttered open, he noticed that he was still in his ratty apartment… and, from what he could tell, was still breathing. What’s more, there was something hovering over his face… something kind of colorful.

“Gosh! What happened?” He gave a blink of his emerald eyes, breathing long, slow breaths as he stared up at the face of a concerned kitty-girl. She was smiling… but her eyes showed a lot of concern. “What… happened?” he quietly repeated, causing the girl to smile a bit more brightly. “You fell down! I think!” she excitedly giggled. “I guess you’re still tired, huh?” The raccoon blinked a second time, then looked around… He was laying on his couch-bed and, to his surprise, his head was resting on something that didn’t feel like a pillow. His eyes drifted to the nearest solid object… which was a dark-gray thing, situated “above” him. It was kind of furry… “You’re okay, though… right?” He then noticed… there was a lime-green outline, surrounding the gray. As his eyes continued, they eventually met with an outcropping, a few inches up. It was then that realized… “Upside-down…?” “I know you are, but what am I?” The girl covered her mouth and giggled, again, closing her eyes. Technically speaking… neither of them was upside-down… but, from either of their viewpoints, both of their heads actually were. From that discovery, it didn’t take long for David to guess… “L… lap…?” The girl poked a sleeved finger against his nose. “On the nose!” she cheered, which made him examine his situation a little closer.

Apparently… when he’d blacked-out, Coloris had pulled him over and placed his head in her seated lap, which explained the gray “wall” “above” him, as well as the “outcropping” of light-gray fabric with a lime-green trim. Wait. Outcropping…? “Oh– oh–!!” Suddenly, he sat up and spun around, causing the girl to wince! “Are you okay?” She offered a slightly-confused smile. “Why’s your face red?” He hadn’t meant to… he really hadn’t! But, while he getting his bearings… he’d started staring at her chest. From the underside. Granted, with her body covered in that form-fitting suit, he didn’t actually see anything… but, he was worried that he might have offended her. Given how cheerful she was acting, though… that didn’t seem to be the case.

“S… sorry…” he said, deciding to be cautious to see what happened. “For what?” The girl’s head went to one side, her fluffy, apple-colored bangs and fringe sliding over. Apparently, she hadn’t even noticed him staring at her chest… “Uh… N-never mind.” Something he was very thankful for. She blinked as he said that, then gave a friendly smile. “Okay!”

After another moment of awkwardness, David took off his belt – while Coloris removed her scarf – and they shuffled up to the blankets of the couch. The idea of snuggling into a nice, warm bed still sounded good, to him… but, after potentially risking his life, then embarrassing himself with Coloris… he wasn’t sure if he really wanted company. Still, when she crawled over and gave him another of her cute li’l smiles… how could he possibly tell her “No?” And, so…

“Mmm… This is nice and cozy, huh?” He tensely laid there, avoiding eye contact with the girl as they shared the couch-bed. She seemed pretty happy to be there… and, under other circumstances, he probably would have been, too. But, given the previous night and the ongoing morning… he wasn’t entirely sure. “Little chilly, though…” The raccoon raised an eyebrow. Coloris was still smiling at him… but, something else was happening, too. She was wiggling… Not just wiggling, but wiggling closer! And, as if to confirm was he was seeing, he heard her say… “Let’s snuggle!”

When she nudged herself toward him… he shuffled back. When she tried, again… he moved away, again. It wasn’t until the third time that Coloris noticed. “Don’t… you wanna snuggle?” She offered a hopeful smile as she added, “It’ll warm us up! Plus, it’ll be even cozier!” David… was hesitant. When he didn’t answer… “You… don’t wanna snuggle, huh?” He blinked. All the positive energy had left the girl’s face, leaving behind a somewhat-hurt look. Apparently… she’d really wanted to be in his arms… or, be held. Both? “I-it’s okay, Mr. David!” she suddenly said, putting on a forced smile. “I snuggled you aaall night! We… we don’t have to snuggle more…” With that, she turned around… and, as if trying to add to his growing guilt, she shuffled away, stopping at the farthest side of the wide sleeping surface.

For several moments, David just stared at the back of the girl’s head. She wasn’t making any noise and wasn’t moving… He briefly wondered if she was even breathing… But, after quite a while of watching, he noticed something. At least, he thought he had. He blinked, continuing to focus on her… Sure enough… the girl was twitching. No, not twitching… Trembling… albeit, sporadically. No, that was the wrong word, too. He knew what she was doing.

The girl was shivering. She was cold!

Craaap…

“E-eh…?!” Coloris jolted, her body tensing up. Something was touching her… Not just touching her… but, something had taken hold of her around the shoulders. Slowly, she looked to her left… then, she brightly smiled. “Y-you don’t have to if you don’t wanna…” she told David. But, without even being asked, he slid his arms down around her middle and pulled her in, making her giggle with joy. But! He wasn’t done… “O-oh…! Hello!” To her continued delight, he’d slid his big, ringed tail between their legs and up her frontside. She was quick to wrap her arms around it with a happy murmur. “Oh, Mr. David…” she contently sighed. “I… I hope I didn’t make you feel bad. I was okay! Really!” “Shy…” he quietly told her, causing her to look back at him, once more. “Shy? Really?” She giggled, again. “You don’t seem like a shy guy to me!” He chuckled as well. He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or just a comment… but, it was certainly amusing. “Actually, I’m kinda surprised you didn’t ask Ruberry out, last month! B-before… um… all the bad stuff, I mean.” He blinked. “What?” That came out of nowhere!

“Lots’a people ask Big Sis out!” she explained. “She’s really popular! But…” Her voice lowered and she whispered… “I think she has her eyes on this one cute guy… I forget his name, but he seems nice!” She paused to give his tail a hug. “I liked some of her boyfriends. I didn’t like some of them, though… Some of them were… weird… or, they acted funny around me… Like, this one time? Big Sis went to use the bathroom? And, this guy came over and was like, ‘So, can’t help but notice you’ve been staring at me, the whole night…’” she said in her best “guy voice.” “Of course I was! I really wanted to pet his tail! But… he was having such a good time with Big Sis…” She shook her head. “Anyway, the guy smiled at me… kinda like you smiled at Ruberry, last month! Then… he tried to touch my hair…” A sudden, tight squeeze to his tail caught his attention. Between that and the long silence, he got the idea that… “I don’t like it when anyone touches my hair. Not even Big Sis!” She paused, again, before clarifying… “I just let her ‘cause… ‘cause, she’s Big Sis! Ya know?” “Only child,” he suddenly told her. “What? Really?”

David blinked as she girl shuffled in his arms. He had to lean back as she turned around and looked right into his eyes. Oddly, it seemed like she’d lost interest in his tail, being more interested in him, himself!

“I dunno why…” she said with a friendly smile, “but, I thought you’d have a sis or a bro, or something! Guess not, though, huh?” Her smile brightened… then, she looked down, seeming a little sad. “You know… I don’t have any bros or sises, either. Ruby… isn’t really my sister…” Hearing Coloris call Ruby by her actual name… made him feel a little odd. “B-but, don’t get me wrong!” The girl looked back up with a bright smile. “Ruberry’s been the best big sis a little sis could ever want!” “Only child…?” “I…” Again, she looked down… but, she’d also bit her bottom lip.

“Mr. David?” she called, after a moment of quiet thought. “Can you keep a secret?” “Sure?” As she brought a hand up, he jerked back. When he noticed that it was closed… except for the pinky finger… he suddenly wondered if she was going to do what he thought she might. “Pinky-swear.” Yep. She was. “Promise that you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you, okay?” she asked as he wrapped his right pinky around hers. “Promise,” he said with a smile. There was a long pause… then… she started giggling. “S-sorry,” she said when he tilted his head. “I can’t take your cute face seriously!” He blinked, feeling his face warm ever-so-slightly. She thought he was cute?

“Um… anyway!” Coloris squeezed his pinky to hers. “Promise? Again? Sorry.” “I promise that I won’t tell anyone–” “Not even Ruberry!” she suddenly interrupted, giving him pause. “Uh… I promise that I won’t tell anyone, not even Ruby, abo–” “Ru-berry!” she corrected, giving him another pause to blink. “I promise,” he said in a particularly-fast way, not wanting to be interrupted a third time, “that I won’t tell anyone including Ruberry what you’re about to tell me!” Coloris had to blink, then… but, soon enough, she giggled. “Is that’s a pinky-promise?” “That’s a pinky-promise,” he repeated with a smile. “Okay!” The girl brightly beamed. “Remember, if you ever tell anyone, I’ll know!” She leaned in, showing… an uncharacteristically-serious grin. “And, I’ll get’cha!” His fur bristled as, without any warning, she flicked her finger, tossing what looked like micro-sized confetti at him. “Bless you!” she laughed. The “confetti” had made him look away and sneeze. With that, they released hands and settled back down, ready to continue.

David patiently waited, watching Coloris kind of fidget and avoid his gaze. He was really curious what she could possibly tell him that was both a secret and something that he didn’t already know. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait for very long.

“Mr. David?” His head tilted to one side. She looked right at him, gave her best smile, and said… “I… lost my memory.”

David grinned. She was joking, obviously. When her smile started fading, though… “Oh.” She wasn’t kidding. “Oh, Sai…” “I-it’s not so bad!” she told him, realizing she’d made him worry. “I just… don’t remember where I came from… That’s all!” “Not bad,” he repeated, giving her a smile. “And… I don’t remember my family… or, if I had any… Where I lived… what I was doing before Ruberry found me… how I got there…” “Um…” “Yeeaaah…”

For several moments, David just watched Coloris as she kept her head bent downward, staring at nothing. She didn’t seem that upset… but, at the same time, he knew that not knowing her own history had to be troubling. Heck, he’d be pretty upset if he forgot the last 18 years-or-so of his own life! Though, he probably wouldn’t miss his Freshman year of high school, if he was being completely honest. What a mess that was.

“Could… be worse.” Coloris looked up. “Met Ruby,” he said with a friendly smile… which she returned pretty quickly. “That’s what I mean!” she brightly said. “I lost a bunch’a stuff… maybe…? But, I gained a bunch’a new stuff! Big Sis… friends like Saffie and Dani… You…” “Me?” he repeated, causing her to nod. “We haven’t known you for very long… but, you made my big sis happy.” “I… did?” “She said you were nice and fun to hang out with, the one time you did it!” Coloris brightly smiled. “I think so, too!” “‘Nice…?’” He blinked. “Mr. David, you’re really nice!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him. “And… you’re cute and fluffy and like hugs, too! I’m glad you make Ruberry so happy… She likes you!” He smiled, again. That made him feel kind of proud, in a way. “I think… she likes you-likes you, actually…” Then, he blushed. That was news, to him. “B-but… don’t tell her I said that…!” he immediately heard her whisper. As she looked away, she added, “I think that was a secret…” There was an awkward sort of pause before she looked up and sweetly asked… “Is there anyone you like-like, Mr. David?”

“Not… really,” the raccoon quietly answered. He was still a little dazed and flattered from the indirect – though, unconfirmed – declaration… but, given how few friends he had, and how few relationships he’d been in… he could honestly say that there was no one of interest to him. Before they’d had their fight, he’d considered asking Alexandria out, once-or-twice… but, he ultimately thought that they were too close to do something like that. It was… kind of a silly thought, he knew… but, he really didn’t want to risk ruining a lifelong friendship… just for a kiss from a pretty, purple-eyed girl. Ironic, considering that it was ruined because of another girl.

“There is someone, huh?” He blinked. Coloris was giving him another serious look… one filled with compassion. “Boy… Big Sis is gonna be sad,” she said with a soft laugh. “N-no,” he told her, feeling his face warm, again. “Just… thinking.” Suddenly, she snuggled against him, tucking her head under his chin. “It’s okay, Mr. David… If you have someone you like-like, it can’t be helped. I just think it’d be neat to have you as my ‘big brother…’” Her voice lowered as she whispered… “You’re so nice…” She really knew how to tug at his heartstrings without trying…

“L-little early… to talk about marriage?” “Oh, but I bet you’d look handsome in a tuxedo…” She snuffled back up and brightly smiled. “It’d match your cute face!” “I–!” He blinked. “Wait. What?” Coloris gave a calm sort of smile, looking at him with closed eyes. “Nothing, Mr. David… Just…” Her smile became a grin as she told him, “‘Thinking…’”

There was another awkward break in the conversation. She just smiled at him while he gave an odd, half-confused look. Why had she said that? Was she teasing him? She was definitely being playful… but, teasing? No, no… And, if that wasn’t it…

“Is there someone you like-like?” Coloris opened her eyes, staring at his face with a confused look of her own. “Huh?” “Is there someone you like-like?” he repeated, his own expression completely neutral. “I like you!” she exclaimed before trying to give him a hug. She had to blink, though, when he nudged her back and stared at her. “Not what I asked,” he told her. “Is there someone you… like… like?” “Nope!” It was his turn to blink, again. She’d given that answer so quickly… so completely without reservation… that he had a hard time accepting it. “You sure?” “If I did, I don’t remember. Amnesia, remember?” She grinned, a little. “But, right now? There’s no one that I like-like, no.” Well, there went his fun… He was hoping she’d act all squirrelly, or try and duck out of answering the question. He hadn’t been expecting a straight, serious answer.

“To be honest…” He blinked, watching his friend. She was looking to one side, seeming lost-in-thought… “I’m not sure if there’s someone I could like-like… I love just about everyone! But… in a platonic way. You know?” And, again, he hadn’t been expecting an answer like that. Mostly, because she always acted like a little kid. “After Ruby found me,” she said, using Ruby’s actual name, again, “I’ve mostly been hanging out with her and her friends… I just like hanging out and playing games and learning things! We went to the library, one time, and…” He waited… then, he tilted his head, wondering why she’d suddenly trailed off… “You okay?” he ended up asking, genuinely wondering… “Mr. David?” She paused before looking up at him. “It is… normal?” “What?” “Is it normal… to… to not be interested in boys?” “Um…” The urge to make a joke was so strong… “Probably.” Thankfully, he suppressed it.

“Ruby likes boys. Sappie likes boys, too! Not sure about Dani…” She frowned. “I’m a girl… right? So… why don’t I like boys like they like boys?” “Can I… be serious, for a second?” he asked with unusual clarity. “It’s kinda weird when you do that…? But…” She gave a nod. “Okay.” “Sometimes… some people just aren’t looking for relationships,” he told her. “Sometimes, not even a fling. Sometimes, people are happy, alone.” “But… I have friends! I have Big Sis!” She gave a hollow chuckle. “I’m not alone…” “I explained that bad…” he said with a sigh. “What I meant was–” “I know…” she interrupted, startling him. She looked into his eyes, again, as she quietly explained, “Some people just aren’t interested in being more than cuddle-buddies. Heck, some people don’t even like that!” She snuggled into him with a content murmur and a warm smile. “I don’t like people, like that. Cuddling rules.” “Heh…” He gently held her, giving a chuckle. He preferred it when girls let him cuddle them, too… but, it wasn’t always a sure thing, he’d found out the hard way.

After a couple of moments of cuddling, Coloris leaned back and looked at her friend. She had an odd look about her… It was kind of confused, but at the same time, curious… but, also… cautious. “So, Mr. David…” She paused before asking, “It’s normal to not like boys, like that?” “Sure,” is what he was thinking of saying. Instead, he positively said, “Absolutely.” “And… it doesn’t make me… weird…?” “Nope.” He tapped her on the nose, drawing out a giggle. “‘fraid you’re normal, Sai.” She gave a happy hum… then, she looked down.

“What if… What if…” He tilted his head, wondering what she was thinking. “What if I liked girls?!” she blurted out. And, for the first time that he could remember… he saw her blush. “That– that’s normal, too,” he told her after a second. It’s not that he was bothered by the idea… Rather, he really hadn’t expected her to just barf something like that out!

“I-it is?!” She gave a heavy blink before asking, “B-but… isn’t that bad?” “Some people think so.” He smiled as he said, “Idiots.” “They are!” she agreed with a bright smile. “Can’t help who ya love,” he continued. “Guy… girl… stop sign…” “Okay, now you’re just being silly,” she giggled. When she noticed him give her a dirty look, though… “O-oh… Were… you being serious? I-I’m sorry! I–” She had to blink when he put a finger over her lips and smiled. “Sorta-silly,” he told her, making her smile. “Some are attracted to… ‘non-standard’ stuff. ‘Live-and-let-live.’ Long as they don’t throw it at me, don’t care.” “Yeah… yeah!” Her smile brightened. “Mr. David… you’re so smart!” “You, too, Sai.” “I am?”

He turned his head down at the question… then, he gave her a sheepish look. “Real-talk? Thought… you were a kid when we met. In your head, at least. Now…?” He offered a warm smile to the confused girl. “Know you’re not.” “You thought I was a kid?” When he gave a skittish sort of nod, she hummed… “Is that why you didn’t flirt with me?” “What…?” He blinked, yet again, as the girl smiled at him. It wasn’t her usual cute-and-sweet smile, though. No, there was something different… something kind of subtle… Almost… sly…

“You kinda flirted with Big Sis, at the arcade,” she commented. “You complimented her and said nice things! You said you liked my outfit, too… but, that was all. Sooo… was it ‘cause you thought I was a kid?” “I… uh… I mean…” “I wanna be flirted with, too…” She brightly smiled. “Go ahead!” “W… what,” he squeaked. “Flirt with me!” she repeated. “Can’t just… Doesn’t work like…” “What? Aren’t I pretty enough for you?” His face scrunched. Was she… Yeah. Yeah, she was totally smirking at him… “I… You… F-flirt…?” “That’s what I said, Mr. David!” She grinned, then. “Hit me with your best flirt!” “Doesn’t work like that!” he exclaimed. “M-mood…!” “Well, what would set the mood? Wait…!”

The raccoon jolted. Coloris had jolted, too, seemingly inspired. All he could do was lay there and wait for her to make the next move… whatever it might be.

“You’re scared, huh…?” she asked. That… was not what he was expecting her to do. “S… scared?” he repeated. “Uh-huh!” She gave a nod, then smiled. “You’re scared you’ll make Big Sis sad!” He almost let himself say “What,” again… He couldn’t believe what she was saying. “Well, Mr. David…” She leaned in, pressing her forehead to his and staring right into his eyes. “What Ruberry doesn’t know…” She trailed off, again… but, it really didn’t seem necessary for her to finish that thought. And, as David lay there, front-to-front with a girl who, previously, acted like such a kid… he started to notice… she was really doing her best to encourage him.

Coloris’ had closed her eyes half-way and was giving him a soft… enticing sort of smile… Even the way she reached up and brushed the locks of two-color hair away from her face seemed kind of… attractive, rather than just cute. Clearly, the girl had some idea of what she was doing… However, she didn’t seem to have a clue as to what she was doing… to him.

“Flirt with me, Mr. David…” she said in soft coo that felt full of mixed signals. Even if she hadn’t added the “Mr.” to his name, he would have been just as wary of actually going through with her suggestion… mostly because he had no freaking clue about where to start. Wait… “No clue where to start?” He… he wasn’t seriously considering… But, as he lay there, his eyes scanning her… he noticed, for the first time, just how sweet her smile was… what beautiful eyes she had… He noticed the delicate curvature of her feminine face and how her eyelashes fluttered whenever she blinked… He noticed was cute little ears she had… And… “Oh, Gaia…” He realized something.

“Not such a ‘kid’ after all… huh, Mr. David?” Coloris gave a playful sort of giggle. She’d… definitely… noticed the way he was looking at her. And… she approved… “Uh…” He swallowed hard. His heart was thumping and his face was, quite-obviously, red with embarrassment. She had him at a complete-and-total disadvantage… “You’re blushing…” she whispered. “You wanna kiss me, don’cha…?” He blinked, again, his blush brightening. He also made the strangest squeaky noise… “Gosh… Guess that means…” Her smile… turned into a grin. “I win!” He continued to blink as she brought a hand up and covered her mouth, giggling more. “Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha–? What do you mean… ‘you win?’” “Oh… nothing…” she said, looking off-and-away with a smile. “Now, where were we?” “No.” He suddenly felt… angry, for some reason. “Explain?” “It’s nothing!” she giggled as she gave him a hug. “Really!” Okay, given how quickly she’d started denying it, he knew something was up. “Lying…” “I told you,” she said as her smile turned nervy, “it’s nothing!” The scowl he gave her told he wasn’t buying it, though… and, that made her frown.

“I… I really didn’t mean anything, by it…” She squirmed a little. “I just meant–” “What did you mean?” he pressed, causing her to wince. “I… I…” Her eyes clenched and she whimpered. “Ru… Ru…” “‘Ru-ru?’” Then, all-of-a-sudden… “Ruberry made me do it…!!” He jerked back, eyes opening wide and fur bristling. Coloris had hidden her face, clearly upset by her own words. However, that statement only led to further questions…

“Wh… what do you mean, ‘Ruberry made me–” “I-I didn’t wanna!” she exclaimed from behind her hands. “I told her it was mean! B-but, she told me it’d be funny! And-and-and, she said if I could get you all nervous… I… I…!” When she moved her hands, David noticed… she was tearing up. “Sai?” He blinked, scooting inward… only to have her scoot back. “Sai, what’s wrong?” “Sh… she dared me to flirt with you and if I got you all nervous, she’d buy me a big ice cream cake thing with rainbow candies and sprinkles, and… and… and…!” Coloris whined, closing her eyes tight and shaking her head. She was getting shaky… Suddenly, she pushed forward, burying her face against David’s chest and hugging him close!

“Oh, Mr. David, I’m so sorry…!! I’m… so… sorry…!! P-please, don’t be maaad…!!” Not knowing what to do, he just reached down and patted her back. “What… are you apologizing for?” he asked, genuinely confused. When she looked up at him, tears dripping down and making her cheeks spark, he cautiously added, “I seri–” “Didn’t I…” she sniffed, “didn’t I hurt your feelings…?” “What? N-no…” he answered with a confused blink. “Is… is that what you think?” She gave a sharp nod. “W-well… was confusing… but…” “You’re not mad?” There was a hopeful look on the girl’s face… “No way,” he truthfully told her. “Like you too much, to be mad. But, what–” “I like you, too…! I-I mean… I lied, earlier… wh-when I said…” She bit her lower lip before confessing, “Mr. David… I… like you-like you… Th-that’s why I did the dare! I wanted to see if… if… Oh, Mr. David…! I’m so happy…!!” “W… wuh… what…” –––––

“What… happened, while I was asleep…?” “I got a boyfriend!”

The look on Ruby’s face was… certainly something else, that morning. She had a horrendous scowl and a deeply-furrowed brow as she stood there, staring in confusion as her “little sis” happily clung to David’s arm. The raccoon wanted to say something… try and explain away Coloris’ comment… but, one look at her bright, beautiful, overjoyed face… stopped him cold. How could he say “No,” to that precious face? And, so… it became kind of… semi-official.

Life with Coloris was kind of a trip, for David. She was always a handful… running around everywhere, asking everyone she could meet questions… poking this, prodding that, examining literally everything… Whenever she became too much for him to handle, he often differed to Ruby… but, for whatever reason, Ruby just shrugged and told him things like, “She’s your girlfriend,” or… “You’re the one who’s dating her…” even though it wasn’t entirely true…

The morning Coloris had declared him “hers,” he couldn’t have been more boggled and at-a-loss. Even with all the attention she gave him, he just couldn’t wrap his head around the idea… Eventually, though… he started to remember that, as hyper as she could be… she was also a full-grown woman… one who, as she occasionally reminded him, wanted attention… from her boyfriend. Yeah… it was weird, seeing her as anything but the playful “little sister” of his friend… at first. As time went on, though… he started to see her as more of an energetic and fun-loving woman. It didn’t hurt that she was so cute, of course… He kinda liked saying that he had the cutest, most-precious girlfriend on the planet… just like she loved telling people that she had the “best, handsomest, most-loving boyfriend.” And, so… “semi-official…” became “official.”

Once he’d embraced the idea, they shared a sickeningly-sweet dynamic that, for whatever reason, seemed to really work! They were pretty shameless about flirting, for a while… but, as the excitement of a new relationship calmed, they managed to dial things down relatively quickly and, before long, they were right back to acting casual… with an occasional, flirty comment or action, of course. It worked… and, hey! It was even kinda cute! To… most people, anyway…

Ruby, being filled with wanderlust, often tried to leave the lovebirds behind… only to be followed by her “little sister” and her boyfriend. Coloris was like a homing missile, when it came to finding her “big sis!" She even though it was a fun game, after a while! Unfortunately, nothing could have been farther from the truth, for Ruby… With David always being around… and, with him dating Coloris… she didn’t feel needed, anymore. As such, her usual perky personality took a serious hit and, after some time… she became a little detached. Both Coloris and David noticed… but, neither one of them could seem to do anything about it. As Ruby had a tendency to lash out, unexpectedly, their other friends had also noticed. That made David wonder… what if what Coloris told him, that one morning, was true…? What if… Ruby had eyes for him? He didn’t like thinking about it… but, her negativity was starting to get them down. Something needed to be done… something drastic.

One night, Ruby left their traveling party, as she often did. When she woke up the next morning, though? She was… by herself. No one had followed her… or even tried to. She’d managed to run everyone off. She was… alone. And… that’s when she broke down and cried…

… … … Nah, I’m just kidding. What really happened that morning was, shortly after the announcement, Ruby walked over and slapped David on the back of the head before pulling her “little sister” away, telling her not to date “that smelly loser.” Oddly enough… neither one of them seemed too upset by it. David hadn’t been too committed and even Coloris decided she’d jumped the gun, a bit. All three of them stayed really good friends, after… though, some people did claim to see a glowy pair of silhouettes wandering off in the direction of the suburban park, at night, sometimes… But, who takes rumors like that seriously, anyway? Right?

#gift #fan fiction #Sonic the Hedgehog #Random Encounters #fan characters #Ruby Moon the Rabbit #Coloris the Alien #Maximillion David #slice of life #romance #drama

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